II  B  RAFLY 

OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY 
Of    ILLINOIS 


977 
V88g 


111. Hist. Survey 


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in  2012  with  funding  from 

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Early  Western  Journals 

Number  III 


One  thousand  copies  printed  direct  from  type 
at  the  Torch  Press,  and  the  type  distributed 


George  Croghan 

and 
the  Westward  Movement 

1741-1782 

by 

Albert  T.  Volwiler 

with  maps 


The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Company 
Cleveland:      1926 


COPYRIGHT,    1926,   BY 

Albert  T.  Volwiler 


Stye  ©orcly  pCT 

CEDAR   RAPIDS 
IOWA 


371 


fr 


TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 
MY  MOTHER  AND  FATHER 


597921 


Contents 

Preface 13 

The  Indian  Trader,  1 741-1754 17 

Indian  Agent:  The  French  Advance  on  the  Ohio, 

1747-1755 55 

Deputy    Superintendent:    Turning    the    Tide    of 

French  Aggression,  1 756-1 758  .  .  .  .  115 
Deputy   Superintendent:   The  Occupation   of   the 

West,  1758-1766 143 

Deputy  Superintendent:  The  Irresistible  Pressure 

upon  the  Indian's  Land,  1 759-1 772        .        .        .  209 

Land  Speculation:  Individual  Purchases,  1746-1770  .  233 

Relations  to  Great  Land  Companies,  i  763-1 773  .  .  261 
Business  Activities:   Sale  of   New  York  and  Ohio 

Lands,  1 766-1 775 279 

Obstructions  in  London  and  Williamsburg,  1773- 1793  295 

Last  Years,  1 775- 1 782 323 

Bibliography 337 

Index 353 


Illustrations 

Croghan's  activities  as  an  Indian  trader  and  agent 

.     Frontispiece 

Facsimile  of  Croghan's  letter  to  Richard  Peters, 

May  26,  1747 57 

Patents  granted  in  the  region  around  Cherry  Val- 
ley and  Lake  Otsego,  New  York    ....        245 

Croghan's  land  operations  and  Indian  activities        .        255 


Preface 

George  Croghan  was  the  leading  exponent  of  the 
expansion  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  into  the  Ohio  region 
during  the  generation  before  1775.  He  was  preemi- 
nent as  an  Indian  trader,  an  Indian  agent,  a  land  specu- 
lator, and  a  projector  of  inland  colonies.  His  trading 
houses  were  scattered  throughout  the  upper  Ohio 
region  and  the  activities  which  radiated  from  them 
constituted  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  French  aggres- 
sion in  the  Ohio  valley  from  1749  to  1754.  To  help 
stem  this  aggression,  Croghan  was  employed  as  an 
Indian  agent,  first  by  his  colony,  Pennsylvania,  and  then 
by  the  British  Empire.  His  immediate  superior,  Sir 
William  Johnson,  relied  upon  him  to  conduct  the  most 
important  and  delicate  negotiations  with  the  Indians. 
The  westward  advance  of  the  English  settler's  frontier 
during  Croghan's  generation  is  graphically  illustrated 
by  the  shifting  of  his  place  of  residence.  In  the  1740's 
this  was  located  near  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania;  during 
the  next  decade  he  moved  westward  forty  miles  to 
Aughwick;  and  after  1758,  he  made  his  home  at  Pitts- 
burg. 

Croghan  was  one  of  the  first  Englishmen  to  grasp  a 
clear  vision  of  the  future  greatness  of  the  forest-clad 
kingdom  beyond  the  Appalachians.  This  vision  came 
to  dominate  all  of  his  later  activities  and  it  exerted 
great  influence  upon  other  colonial  leaders  and  upon 
imperial  officials.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  that 
group  which,  during  the  period  from   1763  to  1775, 


14         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

organized  great  land  companies  to  develop  the  newly 
won  territory  and  which  planned  to  establish  the  colony 
of  Vandalia.  These  interests  exerted  an  important  in- 
fluence upon  constitutional  development  during  the 
period  from  1775  to  1789.  From  one  point  of  view, 
the  history  of  the  United  States  until  the  twentieth 
century  is  the  story  of  a  long  struggle  for  the  possession 
of  a  continent.  In  this  struggle,  George  Croghan  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  vanguard  of  that  mighty  host 
which  made  the  great  march  across  the  continent  and 
carved  an  empire  out  of  an  uncharted  wilderness. 
His  place  in  American  history  can  be  more  correctly 
estimated  if  in  studying  Indian  affairs,  the  emphasis 
is  placed  upon  normal  trade  conditions  and  land  rela- 
tions, rather  than  upon  local  wars  with  their  lurid  and 
heroic  episodes.  The  latter  point  of  view  pervades 
too  much  of  American  historiography. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  I  am  especially  in- 
debted to  the  courtesy  and  stimulating  helpfulness  of 
Professor  St.  George  L.  Sioussat  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  For  helpful  suggestions  I  am  indebted 
to  Professors  Clarence  W.  Alvord,  of  the  University 
of  Minnesota,  Clarence  E.  Carter,  of  Miami  Univer- 
sity, William  V.  Pooley,  of  Northwestern  University, 
Albert  E.  McKinley,  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  to  Dean  Herman  V.  Ames  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  Courteous  assistance  was  given  by 
Dr.  Thomas  L.  Montgomery  and  Miss  Jennie  C.  Wylie 
of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania;  Mr.  H.  H. 
Shenk,  Custodian  of  the  Public  Records,  Pennsylvania 
State  Library;  Mr.  Victor  H.  Paltsits  of  the  Division 
of  Manuscripts,  New  York  Public  Library;  Mr.  Peter 
Nelson  of  the  New  York  State  Library;  Dr.  Richard 


PREFACE  15 


E.  Day  and  Dr.  James  Sullivan,  of  the  New  York  State 
Historian's  office;  Mr.  Francis  J.  Audet  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada  at  Ottawa;  Misses  Louise  P.  Kel- 
logg and  Alice  Nunns  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical 
Society;  Mr.  John  C.  Fitzpatrick  of  the  Division  of 
Manuscripts,  Library  of  Congress;  and  Mr.  William 
V.  Byars  of  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Simon  Gratz  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Mr.  Anderson  Gratz  of  St.  Louis  very 
generously  placed  at  my  disposal  materials  from  their 
private  libraries.  It  is  impossible  to  express  adequately 
the  debt  I  owe  to  my  wife,  Ada  White  Volwiler,  for  the 
encouragement  and  untiring  aid  which  she  rendered 
at  all  stages  of  the  work.  As  Harrison  Fellow  in  His- 
tory, 1 92 1 -1922,  and  as  Harrison  Research  Fellow, 
1 922- 1 923,  I  was  materially  assisted  by  the  generosity 
of  Dr.  Charles  C.  Harrison,  former  Provost  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  who  established  the 
George  Leib  Harrison  Foundation  to  encourage  scien- 
tific study  and  research. 

Albert  T.  Volwiler 


University  of  Pennsylvania 


The  Indian  Trader,  1 741-1754 

The  mainspring  which  kept  the  Indian  trade  in 
North  America  in  operation  during  the  eighteenth 
century  was  the  demand  for  furs  and  skins  in  western 
Europe.  The  customs  and  styles  of  dress  among 
European  nobles  and  courtiers,  ecclesiastical  and  uni- 
versity officials,  and  wealthy  burghers  created  the  de- 
mand for  furs ;  the  demand  for  skins  rested  chiefly  upon 
the  needs  of  the  more  humble  classes  of  society.  A 
second  great  market  for  furs  and  skins  was  in  China. 
Until  towards  the  close  of  the  period  under  considera- 
tion this  market  only  indirectly  affected  the  Indian 
trade  by  absorbing  the  cheaper  grade  of  Russian  furs 
and  skins  and  thus  decreasing  the  supply  available  for 
western  Europe.  By  the  time  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, however,  a  considerable  number  of  American 
furs  and  skins  were  sent  from  London  to  China,  either 
through  Russia  or  in  the  ships  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, thus  fore-shadowing  the  trading  ventures  of  John 
Jacob  Astor  and  Stephen  Girard.1 

From  the  earliest  days  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
until  the  sixteenth  century  the  people  of  central  Asia 
and  western  Europe  were  supplied  with  furs  and  skins 
from  the  great  northern  plains  of  Eurasia.  Here  the 
Russian  trader's  frontier  was  gradually  pushed  east- 
ward until  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
it  was  moving  rapidly  down  the  western  coast  of  North 

1  Papers  relating  to  Canada,  1692-1792,  George  Chalmers  Coll. 


1 8  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

America.2  The  furs  and  skins  from  the  second  great 
region  of  supply  —  northern  North  America  —  had 
to  compete  with  those  from  Russia  and  Siberia  in  the 
markets  of  Europe.  So  successfully  was  this  done  that 
the  great  fur  marts  were  shifted  from  Vienna,  Danzig, 
and  Liibeck  to  London,  Amsterdam,  and  Paris.  The 
quest  for  furs  took  the  place  of  the  quest  for  gold, 
silver,  and  precious  stones  in  luring  the  white  man 
to  penetrate  into  the  vast  unknown  regions  north  of 
Mexico. 

If  the  trade  in  furs  and  skins  is  looked  at  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  uncivilized  native  who  could 
furnish  peltry  and  hides,  one  finds  equally  strong 
economic  forces  influencing  his  conduct.  In  his  esti- 
mation of  values,  based  upon  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand,  the  exchange  of  a  fine  beaver  pelt  for  a  single 
sharp  knife  was  a  great  bargain.  The  mutual  immense 
profits  of  the  trade  in  furs  and  skins  and  other  irresis- 
tible economic  forces  involved,  led  both  savages  and 
civilized  men  to  desire  to  establish  and  maintain  trad- 
ing relations  in  spite  of  the  heavy  risks  to  life  and 
property  to  all  concerned  in  such  trade. 

The  desire  to  control  the  lucrative  trade  in  furs  and 
skins  with  the  natives  in  North  America  was  one  of 
the  numerous  causes  for  the  great  rivalry  of  England 
and  France  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. Towards  the  close  of  the  former  century  they 
entered  upon  an  important  trade  war  in  North  America 
for  the  control  of  this  traffic  which,  unlike  their  mili- 
tary conflicts,  never  ceased  until  after  1763.  In  it  the 
native  tribes  were  mere  tools  and  pawns  which  both 
sides  exploited. 

2  The  following  quotation  is  suggestive  for  the  colonization  of  North 
America:     "Der  Zobel    [sable]    hat   die   Erschliessung   und    Eroberung  Sib- 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  1 9 

The  trader's  frontier  in  this  conflict  was  long,  wide, 
and  constantly  shifting.  During  the  second  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century  French  and  English  traders 
met  in  the  region  between  Lake  Superior  and  Hudson's 
Bay,  but  here  there  were  such  vast  regions  to  exploit 
that  for  a  long  time  their  rivalry  was  only  serious  to 
those  immediately  involved.  Similar  competition 
took  place  in  the  wilderness  between  New  England 
and  Canada,  but  here  also  the  rivalry  was  not  serious, 
for  there  were  no  longer  rich  fur  fields  to  exploit  in 
this  region  nor  were  there  strategic  lines  of  communica- 
tion to  threaten.  The  Indian  country  between  New 
York  and  New  France  controlled  great  arteries  of 
commerce;  here,  however,  the  English  forces  of  expan- 
sion, which  in  earlier  decades  had  begun  to  penetrate 
the  region  around  Lake  Michigan,  soon  lost  vitality. 
Trading  relations  were  established  whereby  Albany 
traders  gave  up  their  dreams  of  trading  directly  with 
the  far  West  in  return  for  the  opportunity  of  exchang- 
ing English  manufactured  goods  for  French  furs  near 
at  home.  In  contrast  to  the  Indian  traders  of  Penn- 
sylvania, those  of  New  York  generally  did  not  pene- 
trate far  into  the  interior  to  seek  furs  and  skins  at  each 
Indian  village,  but  utilized  the  Iroquois  as  middlemen 
to  bring  furs  and  skins  to  them  at  such  posts  as  Albany 
and  Oswego.  In  the  extreme  south,  Carolina  traders 
had  once  planned  to  develop  the  distant  trans-Missis- 
sippi country  and  even  the  Ohio  and  Illinois  regions. 
By  about  1725,  the  French  had  limited  the  activities 
of  the  English  until  their  trade  with  tribes  which  bor- 

iriens  veranlasst;  er  hat  auch  einen  grossen  Teil  der  Kosten  mit  seiner 
Haut  bezahlt."- Klein,  Joseph:  Der  Sibirische  Pelzhandel  und  seine  Bedeu- 
tung  fiir  die  Eroberung  Sibiriens,  i.  Cf.  Golder,  Frank  A.:  Russian  Expan- 
sion on  the  Pacific,  1641-1850. 


20         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

dered  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the  Mississippi  had  al- 
most ceased.3 

During  the  generation  preceding  1754,  the  most 
dynamic  and  significant  phase  of  the  Anglo-French 
rivalry  in  the  Indian  trade  was  in  the  central  and  upper 
Ohio  valley  and  in  the  region  south  of  Lake  Erie.  In 
preceding  decades  a  few  Carolina,  New  York,  and  per- 
haps Virginia,  traders  had  reached  this  region,  but 
their  visits  were  sporadic  and  not  consistently  followed 
up.  Later,  Pennsylvania  traders  began  to  develop  con- 
sistently its  rich  trading  possibilities.  The  expansion 
of  the  field  of  their  activities  was  based  upon  a  sufficient 
supply  of  low-priced  merchandise  and  it  was  the  result 
of  their  own  initiative  and  resourcefulness;  not  until 
their  influence  had  about  reached  its  height  did  their 
government  aid  them.  Meanwhile,  the  French  had 
been  moving  eastward  into  this  region.  They  shifted 
their  main  line  of  communication  between  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  from  the  Fox-Wisconsin 
route  to  the  Chicago-Illinois  route  and  then  to  the 
Maumee-Wabash  route.  To  control  the  latter,  Fort 
Ouiatenon  was  erected  by  New  France,  about  1720,  at 
the  head  of  navigation  for  large  canoes  on  the  Wabash, 
and  Fort  Vincennes  by  Louisiana,  in  173 1,  on  the  lower 
Wabash.  At  times,  a  small  fort  on  the  Maumee  was 
maintained  which,  with  Detroit,  completed  this  line  of 
defense  against  English  penetration.  The  region  east 
of  this  line  was  left  open  to  the  English.  The  first 
"Winning  of  the  West"  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  followed; 
in  almost  every  important  Indian  village  in  this  region 
one  or  more  Pennsylvania  traders  were  to  be  found. 

3  Cf.  Verner  W.  Crane:  "The  Tennessee  River  as  the  Road  to  Carolina", 
in  Miss.  Valley  Hist.  Rev.,  m,  3ff.,  and  Crane:  "The  Southern  Frontier  in 
Queen  Anne's  War",  in  Am.  Hist.  Rev.,  xxiv,  379*1". 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  21 

The  growth  of  their  influence  is  well  shown  by  the 
following  incidents.  In  1707,  Governor  Evans  of 
Pennsylvania  feared  the  influence  of  French  traders 
even  east  of  the  lower  Susquehanna;  he  personally  led 
a  party  thither  to  capture  Nicole  Godin,  a  trader  of 
French  birth,  who  was  suspected  of  aiding  the  enemy. 
The  governor  reported  to  the  provincial  council  that 
after  he  had  captured  Nicole,  "having  mounted  Nicole 
upon  a  horse,  and  tied  his  legs  under  the  Belly,"  he 
"brought  him  a  Prisoner  to  Philadia,  in  the  Common 
Gaol  of  which  he  now  lies."  4  Less  than  half  a  cen- 
tury later,  in  the  early  fifties,  Paul  Pierce,  a  Pennsyl- 
vania trader,  had  "4,000  Weight  of  summer  skins  taken 
at  another  town  on  Wabasha.     .     .     "  5 

These  incidents  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  Pennsyl- 
vania traders  had  assumed  the  aggressive  and,  in  spite 
of  the  Appalachian  barrier,  had  pushed  the  trader's 
frontier  500  miles  westward  in  less  than  a  half  century; 
in  1750,  this  line  was  near  the  Wabash  and  Maumee 
rivers,  nearly  500  miles  in  advance  of  the  settler's 
frontier  in  Pennsylvania,  which  was  just  starting  to 
move  up  the  Juniata  valley  and  to  cross  the  Blue 
Mountains.  Nor  had  the  expansive  force  of  this 
movement  been  exhausted  when  it  reached  the  Wabash 
and  Maumee;  it  began  to  cross  this  line-  a  weak  bar- 
rier at  best -and  move  on  towards  the  Mississippi, 
bringing  anxiety  into  the  hearts  of  the  best  French 
officials,  who  felt  the  potential  power  of  English  in- 
fluence even  in  the  distant  Illinois  country.6     A  con- 

4  Gov.  Evans'  journal  and  report,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  11,  385,  390. 

5  Pierce's  affidavit  of  losses,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  32. 

6  In  1742,  Bienville  reported  home  that  the  Illinois  tribes  were  restless 
and  that  some  of  them  had  gone  east  to  meet  English  traders. -c  13A,  27: 
81-84.  (Archives  Nationales,  Paris.)  Vaudreuil  reported  in  1744  and  in 
1745  recommending  the  establishment  of  a  fort  on  the  lower  Ohio  to  limit 


22  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

temporary  map  legend  described  the  attitude  of  the 
Indians  in  Illinois  as  follows:  "Illinois  mostly  in- 
clined to  the  French  at  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  and  to 
the  English  at  that  of  Aix-la-Chapelle."  7 

Thus  by  1750,  the  English  were  ready  to  take  con- 
trol of  the  Wabash-Maumee  route,  the  best  line  of  com- 
munication between  New  France  and  Louisiana,  and 
they  threatened  French  dominion  in  the  West.  When, 
during  King  George's  War,  the  highest  French  officials 
considered  the  danger  of  this  quiet  penetration  of 
English  power,  they  determined  at  any  cost  to  secure 
sole  and  absolute  control  of  the  entire  Ohio  country. 
The  Pennsylvania  Indian  traders  were  thus  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  immediate  opening  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War. 

Their  aggressive  westward  push  during  the  period  of 
1730-1775,  was  aided  by  the  moral  and  financial  sup- 
port of  the  wealthy  merchants  and  colonial  officials  in 
Philadelphia.  During  this  period  Philadelphia  had 
become  the  largest  town  in  all  America.  Its  virile 
energy  and  the  many-sidedness  of  its  interests  were 
typified  in  the  life  of  its  greatest  citizen,  Benjamin 
Franklin.  Its  large  and  profitable  commerce,  firmly 
buttressed  upon  a  prosperous  and  rich  agricultural 
region  resulted  in  the  accumulation  of  surplus  capital, 
part  of  which  was  available  for  projects  to  exploit  and 

the  activities  of  the  English  traders  and  to  keep  control  of  the  Kickapoo 
and  Mascoutens.  -  c  13 a,  28:  245-250  and  c  13 a,  29:  69.  An  official  of 
Louisiana  reported  in  1750  that  the  influence  of  an  English  establishment 
on  the  Riviere  de  la  Roche  (Great  Miami)  extended  even  to  the  Illinois 
country  and  that  it  should  be  broken  up. -c  13A,  34:321-323.  In  1751, 
thirty-three  Piankashaw  Indians  (an  important  tribe  living  west  of  the 
Wabash  whose  friendship  was  to  play  an  important  part  (in  Croghan's 
activities)  appeared  among  the  French  settlements  in  Illinois  to  start  an 
Indian  uprising.  -  Alvord,   Clarence  W.:     Centennial  History  of  Illinois,  1, 

234- 

7  Gibson,  John:     Map  of  the  Middle  British  Colonies  in  America,  1758. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  23 

develop  the  vast  wilderness  beyond  the  settler's  frontier. 

The  man  who  played  the  most  prominent  part  in  this 
highly  important  and  significant  phase  of  the  westward 
movement  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  was  George 
Croghan.  Of  his  early  life  and  the  more  personal  side 
of  his  career  we  know  but  little.  No  portrait  of  him 
has  been  discovered  8  and  in  the  course  of  this  investi- 
gation, not  a  single  reference  to  his  wife  was  found; 
the  date  and  exact  place  of  his  birth  are  also  unknown. 
We  know  that  his  early  life  was  spent  in  Dublin,  Ire- 
land.9 The  education  which  he  there  received  was  so 
meager  that  he  was  pronounced  illiterate  by  Bouquet.10 
One  finds  the  spelling  in  Croghan's  letters  amusing, 
provided  it  is  not  necessary  to  decipher  many  of  them.11 
He  migrated  to  America  in  1741.12 

Because  he  came  from  Dublin  he  was  charged  dur- 
ing the  French  and  Indian  War  with  being  a  Roman 

8  In  Joseph  S.  Walton's  Conrad  W eiser  and  the  Indian  Policy  of  Penn- 
sylvania there  is  a  picture  of  Colonel  George  Croghan,  famous  in  the  War 
of  1812,  taken  in  a  U.S.  Army  uniform,  which  is  erroneously  ascribed  to 
the  earlier  George  Croghan. 

9  Gov.  Morris  to  Gov.  Sharpe,  Jan.  7,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  114. 

10  Bouquet  to  Gen.  Gage,  Dec.  22,  1764,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A  23-2:  464. 
No  evidence  has  been  found  to  prove  the  statement  that  Croghan  was 
educated  at  Dublin  University,  made  by  C.  R.  Williams  in  an  article  on 
George  Croghan  in  the  Ohio  Arch,  and  Hist.  Pub.,  xn,  381,  and  by  L.  B. 
Keeler  in  an  article  on  the  Croghan  Celebration  in  the  same  publication, 
xvi,  8. 

11  The  legibility  of  Croghan's  letters  varies  greatly.  The  following 
postcript  to  a  letter  to  Peters,  dated  Sept.  26,  1758,  suggests  one  cause  of 
such  variation:  "You  '1  Excuse  boath  Writing  and  peper,  and  guess  at 
my  Maining,  fer  I  have  this  Minnitt  20  Drunken  Indians  about  me  .  .  ." 
-Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  544.  Croghan's  own  name  was  spelled  in  the  following 
ways  by  his  contemporaries:  Croane,  Croghan,  Croughan,  Cremche,  Crohan, 
Crogan,  Croughean,  Grahoon,  and  Grochan. 

12  Various  dates  from  1740  to  1747  are  given  by  writers  on  Pennsylvania 
history.  The  date  1741  is  established  by  an  affidavit  which  Croghan  made 
before  the  Board  of  Trade  in  London  on  July  27,  1764,  to  aid  the  Penns 
in  their  case  against  Connecticut's  land  claims.  -  Wyoming  Controversy,  v, 
71-75,  Penn  mss.  A  copy  of  this  affidavit,  not  corrected  by  Croghan,  is 
found  in  Penn  Land   Grants,   1681-1806,  pages  205-209. 


24         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Catholic.13  We  know,  however,  that  he  was  an  Episco- 
palian. His  signature,  along  with  those  of  Robert 
Callender  and  Thomas  Smallman,  his  close  associates 
in  the  Indian  trade,  was  attached  to  a  petition  in  1765 
from  the  handful  of  Episcopalians  in  the  frontier  town 
of  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  to  their  provincial  assembly. 
It  asked  for  the  authorization  of  a  lottery  for  the  benefit 
of  ten  Episcopal  churches;  the  one  at  Carlisle  was  to 
receive  £200  to  aid  its  building  fund.14  In  1769,  Crog- 
han  wrote  to  Sir  William  Johnson  to  recommend  an 
Episcopal  rector  for  an  appointment,  modestly  adding, 
"for  tho  I  love  ye  Church  very  well  I  know  I  ought 
Nott  to  Medle  with  Church  Matters."  15  When  Crog- 
han  died  his  funeral  was  held  in  St.  Peter's  Episcopal 
Church  in  Philadelphia.16 

These  facts  are  significant.  Evidently  Croghan  was 
not  a  typical  Scotch-Irishman,  for  he  had  the  religion 
of  the  English  Pale.  The  fact  that  he  was  interested 
in  a  church  at  once  puts  him  on  a  higher  plane  than 
most  Indian  traders  who  cared  nothing  for  either 
church  or  religion.  Being  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England  helped  him  to  establish  closer  relations  with 
the  Penns  and  with  many  British  officials.  In  the 
normal  conduct  of  his  business  and  in  his  official  duties 
Croghan  was  not  often  near  any  minister  or  church. 
Even  at  Fort  Pitt,  where  he  usually  had  his  head- 
quarters from  1758  to  1777,  there  was  no  organized 
church  till  after  his  death.17  Army  chaplains  were 
sometimes  stationed  there  and  missionaries  came  to 

13  Gov.  Sharpe  to  Gov.  Morris,  Dec.  27,  1754,  In  Md.  Arch.,  1888,  153. 
14>Pa.  Stat,  at  Large,  vi,  382. 

15  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Nov.  16,  1769,  in  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  w,  419. 

16  William  Powell's  account  with  the  Croghan  Estate,  1804,  mss.,  Register 
of  Wills,  Philadelphia. 

17  Dahlinger,  Charles  W.:  Pittsburgh:  A  Sketch  of  its  Early  Social 
Life,  9-10. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  2$ 

tarry  a  few  days.  The  latter  were  usually  welcomed 
by  Croghan,  at  whose  home  they  frequently  dined. 
One  of  these  in  describing  his  visit  to  Croghan  in  1772, 
writes  that  the  latter  presented  him  with  "a  bear's  skin 
to  sleep  on,  a  belt  of  wampum  to  present  to  the  Indians, 
and  60  pounds  of  biscuit  to  supply  me  on  my  jour- 
ney." 18  Croghan's  religion  was  reflected  in  his  daily 
conduct  in  business  and  in  office  to  about  the  same 
extent  as  is  religion  in  the  life  of  the  average  business 
man  or  office-holder  of  today.19 

Croghan  had  a  number  of  relatives  in  America  who 
had  a  common  interest  in  developing  the  great  West  of 
their  day  and  to  whom  he  was  a  guide  and  leader. 
William  Trent  was  his  brother-in-law,  Edward  Ward 
his  half  brother,  Thomas  Smallman  his  cousin,  John 
Connolly  his  nephew,  and  William  Powell  and  Daniel 
Clark  his  kinsmen.20  Clark  emigrated  from  Ireland 
and  became  a  clerk  to  Croghan ;  after  the  Revolution 
he  became  the  most  prominent  American  in  New 
Orleans.  A  Mohawk  Indian  daughter  of  Croghan 
became  the  wife  of  the  famous  Mohawk  chief,  Joseph 
Brant.21  His  only  white  child,  Susannah,  for  whom  he 
had  a  tender  regard  which  was  reciprocated  by  her,22 

18  Jones,  Rev.  David:    Diary,  21;  McClure,  Rev.  David:    Diary,  46,  101. 

19  This  statement  is  based  upon  a  study  of  Croghan's  entire  life.  E.  W. 
Hassler's  statement  in  Old  Westmoreland:  a  history  of  Western  Pennsylvania 
during  the  Revolution,  10,  that  "He  was  an  Irishman  by  birth  and  an 
Episcopalian  by  religion,  when  he  permitted  religion  to  trouble  him,"  is 
probably  an  incorrect  deduction  from  the  general  characterization  of  Indian 
traders. 

20  Croghan's    will,   Register   of   Wills,    Philadelphia. 

21  Brant  mss.,  1G2,  1F24,  13F103;  Thomson,  Charles:  Alienation  of  the 
Delaware  and  Shaivanese,  etc.,  178.  Croghan,  like  so  many  English  traders 
and  agents  and  like  the  French  but  unlike  the  English  settlers,  was  willing 
to  cross  his  blood  with  the  Indians.  The  consequent  effects  upon  Indian 
relations   offer   interesting  opportunities   for   sociological    reflections. 

22  Croghan's  will;  Trent  to  Mrs.  Prevost,  Aug.  21,  1775,  in  Hist.  Soc.  of 
Pa.,  Coll. 


26         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

was  born  in  1750  at  Carlisle  and  died  in  1790.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  she  was  married  to  Lieutenant  Augustine 
Prevost,  son  of  the  British  general  of  the  same  name, 
with  whom  he  is  sometimes  confused.  To  them  twelve 
children  were  born  at  various  places  from  Quebec  to 
Jamaica  inclusive,  six  of  whom  survived  infancy  and 
became  the  chief  heirs  of  Croghan.23  Aaron  Burr  was 
related  to  Prevost  by  marriage  and  served  as  his  attor- 
ney; Burr's  interest  in  the  West  may  therefore  have 
emanated  from  Croghan. 

The  immigrant  who  went  west  from  Philadelphia 
during  the  decade  1740  to  1750,  as  did  Croghan,  would 
find  that  soon  after  he  had  left  the  Quaker  city  behind, 
the  German  element  became  predominant  and  that  as 
he  approached  the  frontier  the  hardy  Scotch-Irish  in 
turn  composed  the  majority  of  the  population.  The 
road  which  he  followed  would  take  him  through  Lan- 
caster, the  largest  inland  town  in  the  British  colonies; 
from  it  one  important  road  led  through  Paxtang  Town- 
ship, which  bordered  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Susque- 
hanna in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  city  of  Harrisburg. 
At  this  place  the  river  is  not  deep,  but  is  a  mile  wide. 
John  Harris  had  settled  here  and  was  operating  one  of 
the  most  important  ferries  which  crossed  it;  Harris's 
Ferry  is  shown  on  all  contemporary  maps  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The  newcomer  was  now  close  to  the  settler's  frontier 


23  Brant  mss.,  16F65,  i6f66,  16F72;  Draper  mss.,  16F76.  Dennis  Crohan 
was  an  intimate  friend  but  no  relation  to  Croghan. -Etting  Coll.,  Misc.  mss., 
I,  no.  General  William  Croghan  of  the  Revolution,  who  married  a  sister 
to  George  Rogers  Clark  and  helped  develop  the  state  of  Kentucky,  was  an 
intimate  personal  friend  of  George  Croghan. -Byars,  William  V.:  Barnard 
and  Michael  Gratz,  175,  183,  185,  194.  Colonel  George  Croghan,  son  of 
William  Croghan  and  hero  of  the  War  of  1812,  is  often  confused  with  the 
elder  George  Croghan.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  the  Kentucky  Croghans 
recognize  a  relationship  to  the  elder  Croghan  while  others  deny  it. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  27 

line.  The  region  across  the  river  towards  Maryland 
had  been  purchased  from  the  Iroquois  in  1736,  though 
squatters  in  this  region  were  legally  recognized  since 
January  14,  1734,  when  the  first  "Blunston  License" 
was  issued  to  allow  settlement  before  the  Indian  claims 
had  been  purchased.24  The  Juniata  valley  with  the 
region  south  of  it  extending  to  the  Maryland  border 
was  not  purchased  till  1754.  In  the  preceding  decade 
the  most  distant  lands  open  to  settlement  in  the  prov- 
ince were  in  the  level  and  fertile  Cumberland  valley. 
This  lay  beyond  Harris's  Ferry,  on  either  side  of  the 
winding  Condogwinet  River,  which  empties  into  the 
Susquehanna,  and  of  the  Conococheague  River,  which 
flows  in  the  opposite  direction  and  empties  into  the 
Potomac.  South  Mountain,  later  made  famous  by 
Robert  E.  Lee,  forms  a  wall  on  the  southeast  for  this 
physiographic  unit.  From  its  crest  one  can  see  on  a 
clear  day  the  opposite  rampart,  North  Mountain,  also 
known  as  the  Kittatinny  or  the  Blue  Mountains.  Be- 
yond them  in  the  primeval  forest  lay  the  Indian  coun- 
try, but  to  get  to  its  most  attractive  regions  it  was  neces- 
sary to  cross  range  after  range  of  the  mountain  barrier. 
This  was  done  by  the  venturesome  Indian  traders  of  the 
province.  When  the  fur  fields  east  of  the  mountains 
had  been  exhausted,  with  no  enticing  possibilities  to 
the  north  or  south,  the  traders  were  presented  with  the 
alternative  of  either  settling  down  to  a  more  prosaic 
life,  or  of  somehow  getting  across  the  barrier  to  the 
far  western  country.  A  contemporary  describes  the 
result  of  their  decision  as  follows:  "Between  4  and  10 

24  Samuel  Blunston  was  granted  a  special  commission  on  January  11, 
1734,  authorizing  him  to  issue  special  licenses  upon  which  patents  could 
be  obtained  after  the  Indian  claims  had  been  purchased.  The  original  list 
of  licenses  granted,  ending  on  October  31,  1737,  has  been  recently  found 
in  the  Pennsylvania  State  Library. 


28  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

degrees  of  Longitude  west  from  Philadelphia  there  is 
a  spacious  country  which  we  call  Allegenny  from  the 
name  of  a  River  which  runs  thro'  it  and  is  the  main 
branch  of  the  Mississippi.  .  .  In  this  country  all 
our  Indian  trade  centers  .  .  .  the  most  of  our  re- 
turn is  Deer  Skins.  The  Indian  traders  have  had 
great  credit  with  the  merchants."  25 

Various  routes  across  the  mountains  had  been  pre- 
pared for  the  traders  by  nature,  by  the  buffalo,  and  by 
the  Indian;  they  have  since  become  great  arteries  of 
commerce  followed  by  trunk  line  railroads.  The  least 
important  and  most  difficult  of  these  followed  the  West 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna.  Another  route  passed 
through  Shippensburg  and  Bedford,  utilizing  the 
Raystown  branch  of  the  Juniata;  from  1758,  when 
Forbes  constructed  the  road  which  bore  his  name,  until 
after  1830,  when  the  railroad  and  canal  became  impor- 
tant, this  was  one  of  the  most  important  routes  to  the 
West;  as  a  turnpike  it  was  the  great  rival  of  the  Cum- 
berland Road.  The  oldest  and  most  important  route 
to  the  West  during  the  decade,  1740  to  1750,  followed 
the  Juniata  and  Conemaugh  (Kishkimentas)  rivers.26 
It  was  almost  always  followed  by  the  traders  before 
1754  in  going  to  the  West  and  somewhat  less  frequently 
on  their  return.  Shortly  before  1754,  Pennsylvania 
traders  in  returning  from  the  West  were  beginning  to 
follow  the  fourth  great  route  across  the  mountains, 
which  utilized  the  Monongahela,  Will's  Creek,  Water 
Gap,  and  the  Potomac.27     When  they  had  once  reached 

25  Evans,  Lewis:  A  Brief  Account  of  Pennsylvania,  1753,  in  Papers 
relating  to  Pa.,  Car.,  etc.,  Du  Simitiere  Coll. 

26  In  1855,  the  traces  left  by  thousands  upon  thousands  of  warriors  and 
packhorses  which  had  traveled  this  trail  for  years  were  still  plainly  visible. 
-Jones,  U.  J.:    History  of  Juniata  Valley,  135. 

27  Washington  to  Bouquet,  Aug.  2,  1758,  in  Writings  of  George  Wash- 
ington, n,  62 ;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  607. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  29 

the  latter  near  the  end  of  Cumberland  valley  they 
found  available  a  "great  road"  recently  finished,  lead- 
ing through  the  valley  and  connecting  at  Harris's 
Ferry  with  the  great  highway  to  Philadelphia.28 

To  traverse  one  of  the  great  routes  from  the  Susque- 
hanna to  the  Ohio  required  about  fourteen  days.  Until 
after  the  French  and  Indian  War  transportation  by 
wagon  stopped  at  the  mountains;  from  there  on  only 
Indian  trails  were  available.  These  passed  up  and 
down  rugged  mountains.  He  who  traveled  over  them 
was  shut  in  between  impervious  walls  of  trunks, 
boughs,  and  matted  thickets  and  passed  under  a  canopy 
of  leaves  and  branches.  At  times,  glimpses  could  be 
had  of  forest-covered  mountain  ridges  stretching  far 
away  in  all  directions  to  a  misty  horizon.  To  the 
Pennsylvania  trader  the  packhorse  therefore  took  the 
place  which  the  canoe  occupied  among  the  coureurs  de 
bois ;  even  after  he  was  across  the  mountains  and  beyond 
the  Ohio  he  preferred  it  to  the  canoe.  Usually  two  or 
more  men  went  with  a  packhorse  train,  which  seldom 
consisted  of  more  than  twenty  horses,  each  carrying 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  on  their  pack 
saddles.  They  followed  the  trail  in  single  file  with  one 
man  in  front  and  one  in  the  rear.  At  night  the  horses 
were  turned  loose  to  secure  their  forage  as  best  they 
could.  Bells  were  fastened  to  them  to  aid  in  finding 
them  again.  A  packhorse  equipped  with  saddle,  sur- 
cingles, and  bells  was  valued  at  from  £7  to  £25.  From 
twenty  to  thirty  per  cent  was  normally  added  to  Phila- 
delphia prices  for  the  cost  of  transporting  goods  by 
wagon  and  packhorse  to  the  Ohio.29 

28 Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  302;  Evans:  Map  of  the  Middle  British  Colonies,  in 
Pa.  Arch.,  3rd  ser.,  Appendix  to  Volumes  i-x;  Instructions  of  Gov.  Hamilton 
to  N.  Scull  and  T.  Cookson,  surveyors,  in  Early  Hist,  of  Carlisle,  (1841),  1,  6. 

29  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  7;  Md.  Arch.,  1889,  126;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  294,  295, 


30         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

The  chief  Indian  tribes  with  whom  the  Pennsyl- 
vanians  traded  were  the  Six  Nations,  who  claimed 
dominion  over  the  entire  Ohio  region  and  several  hun- 
dred of  whose  representatives  were  scattered  along 
the  Ohio  and  known  as  Mingoes;  the  Delawares,  liv- 
ing around  the  upper  Ohio;  the  Shawnee,  dwelling 
along  the  Ohio  and  Scioto;  the  Wyandots  or  Hurons, 
inhabiting  the  territory  south  of  Lake  Erie;  and  the 
Miami  or  Twightwee,  living  on  the  Big  Miami  and 
beyond. 

To  them  were  brought  rum ;  guns,  gunpowder,  lead, 
flints,  tomahawks  and  vermilion;  strouds,  especially 
those  of  a  "Deep  Blue  or  Lively  Red,"  blanketing, 
matchcoating,  linen  and  calicoes  "of  the  brightest  and 
flourishing  collours";  wampum;  lace,  thread,  garter- 
ing, ribbons;  women's  stockings,  "red,  yellow,  and 
green"  preferred,  and  all  kinds  of  ready-made  cloth- 
ing; knives  of  all  kinds,  brass  and  tin  kettles,  traps, 
axes,  hoes,  brass  wire,  files,  awls,  needles,  buttons,  and 
combs;  jewsharps,  bells,  whistles,  looking  glasses,  rings, 
and  silver  jewelry  of  all  kinds.30 

These  goods,  with  the  exception  of  rum,  came  princi- 
pally from  England.  For  them  were  bartered  deer, 
elk,  buffalo,  and  bear  skins;  beaver,  raccoon,  fox,  cat, 
muskrat,  mink,  fisher,  and  other  furs;  food  supplies 
and  sometimes  personal  services.  The  annual  value 
of  this  trade  was  about  £40,ooo.31 

This  trade  involved  a  connected  chain  of  credits 
based  in  the  end  upon  English  capital.     The  English 

490,  498;  idem,  ix,  495;  Evans,  Lewis:     Analysis  of  a  Map  of  the  Middle 
British  Colonies,  25. 

30  Lists  prepared  under  Croghan's  supervision  are  found  in  Ohio  Co. 
mss.,  I,  37  and  in  C.  O.,  5:  61.  Cf.  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvm,  245;  Byars;  B.  and 
M.  Gratz,  114. 

31  Pa.  Gazette,  Sept.  26,  and  Apr.  25,  1754. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  3 1 

manufacturer  or  merchant  sold  to  the  Philadelphia 
merchant  on  credit;  he  in  turn  advanced  the  goods  to 
the  larger  traders  and  they  to  their  employees;  finally, 
it  also  became  more  and  more  customary  to  trust  the 
Indians  with  goods  in  order  that  they  could  hunt  suc- 
cessfully. If,  therefore,  something  should  happen  to 
the  Indian  so  that  he  failed  to  bring  in  skins  and  pelts, 
bankruptcy  and  financial  stringency  would  follow  all 
along  the  line.32  Certain  merchants  in  London,  Bristol, 
Philadelphia,  and  Lancaster  specialized  in  this  trade. 
The  firm  of  Shippen  and  Lawrence  and  the  Jewish  firm 
of  Levy,  Franks,  and  Simon,  with  whom  the  Gratzs 
were  later  connected,  are  examples  of  those  groups  of 
Pennsylvania  merchants  that  served  as  factors  in  the 
Indian  trade.  They  were  usually  composed  of  one  or 
more  residents  in  Philadelphia  and  a  western  repre- 
sentative in  Lancaster.  The  former  often  had  his  own 
ships  and  imported  suitable  goods  from  England; 
under  his  management  the  skins  and  furs  for  export 
were  sorted,  examined  for  moth,  and  finally  packed  for 
shipment;  the  representative  in  Lancaster  usually  had 
charge  of  warehouses  where  trader's  supplies  were 
kept  and  where  furs  and  skins  were  temporarily  stored. 
Frequently  these  groups  were  "concerned"  with  a 
prominent  Indian  trader  in  active  charge  of  a  number 
of  ordinary  traders.  Aside  from  these  regular  partner- 
ships and  joint-stock  companies  these  men  were  often 
"concerned"  together  in  an  "adventure;"  i.  e.,  when  a 
particular  business  opportunity  presented  itself  they 
would  pool  a  part  of  their  capital,  goods,  or  personal 
services,  sometimes  without  even  signing  articles  of 
agreement,  and  then  divide  the  profits  or  losses  in  pro- 

32  Cf.  Gov.  Wright  to  Board  of  Trade,  Dec.  29,  1754,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap., 
Plantations  General,  xxn,  163. 


32  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

portion.  Such  a  business  system  was  especially  favor- 
able to  the  young  man  or  the  newcomer  with  little  more 
than  his  personal  services  to  contribute.  Such  groups, 
especially  when  united,  were  an  important  factor  in 
trade,  land  speculation,  and  politics,  particularly  in 
relation  to  the  West. 

It  was  into  such  an  environment  that  Croghan  en- 
tered soon  after  coming  to  America.  Shortly  after 
1 741  we  find  him  on  the  frontier  in  the  lower  Condog- 
winet  valley,  then  organized  as  Pennsborough  Town- 
ship of  Lancaster  County.  Here  he  soon  acquired 
over  1,200  acres  of  land.  It  was  on  a  354  acre  tract, 
located  but  five  miles  from  Harris's  Ferry,  Pennsyl- 
vania's gateway  to  the  West,  that  Croghan  established 
his  home.33  This  he  made  his  headquarters  during 
approximately  his  first  ten  years  in  America.  It  was 
strategically  located  with  reference  to  all  of  the  routes 
across  the  mountains;  the  newly-discovered  and  best 
approach  to  the  Juniata  route  passed  by  his  home  and 
crossed  the  Blue  Mountains  through  the  best  gap  in 
the  vicinity.  This  soon  appeared  on  all  contemporary 
maps  as  "Croghan's  Gap."  34  His  home,  "Croghan's," 
likewise  appeared  on  these  maps  along  with  Carlisle 
and  Shippensburg,  as  being  one  of  the  three  landmarks 
on  the  important  road  through  Cumberland  valley. 
It  soon  became  one  of  the  places  where  traders  and  em- 
issaries stopped  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  western 
country.  It  also  served  as  a  convenient  meeting-place 
for  whites  and  Indians. 

Croghan  made  this  place  the  eastern  terminus  for  his 
operations  as  an  Indian  trader.  It  served  as  his  home 
for  a  few  weeks  in  each  year  and  provided  food  and 

33  Pa.  Arch.,  \\,  135;  Pa.  Arch.,  3d  ser.,  Appendix  to  Volumes  i-X. 

34  Today  it  is  called  Sterret's  Gap  and  is  still  important,  being  utilized 
by  a  state  highway. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  33 

shelter  for  employees  and  for  his  packhorses.  Here 
they  could  recuperate  after  their  fatiguing  journeys 
over  the  mountains.  Log  warehouses  provided  storage 
for  skins,  furs,  and  Indian  goods.  On  an  adjacent 
tract  of  171  acres  he  had  an  extensive  tanyard  where  an 
additional  value  could  be  given  to  the  deerskins  which 
he  brought  out  of  the  West.35 

Croghan  was  probably  able  to  acquire  and  develop 
these  properties  through  his  profits  from  the  Indian 
trade.  In  all  likelihood  he  came  to  America  with  little 
or  no  capital,  but  fortunately  for  him,  business  methods 
did  not  require  much  for  the  Indian  trade.  This  trade 
appealed  to  his  restless  spirit  and  adventurous  nature. 
He  entered  into  it  almost  immediately  upon  his  arrival 
in  1741.36  In  1744,  1747,  and  probably  in  other  years, 
he  was  licensed  as  an  Indian  trader.37  His  success  is 
graphically  shown  by  the  fact  that  only  five  years  after 
he  had  left  his  European  environment  he  was  trading 
on  the  distant  borders  of  Lake  Erie  aided  by  servants 
and  employees.38 

In  carrying  on  this  trade  beyond  the  mountains, 
Croghan's  packhorse  trains  usually  passed  through 
Croghan's  Gap  and  followed  the  Juniata-Conemaugh 
route  to  the  Ohio.  Near  its  forks,  he  soon  established 
secondary  bases  of  operations.  About  three  miles  from 
the  forks  on  the  northwestern  side  of  the  Allegheny  at 
the  mouth  of  Pine  Creek,  Croghan  and  his  partner  had 
a  storehouse,  some  log  houses,  numbers  of  batteaux  and 
canoes,  ten  acres  of  Indian  corn,  and  extensive  fields 
cleared  and  fenced.     The  latter  were  probably  used  as 

35  Peters  mss.,  VI,  87 ;  Weiser  to  Peters,  July  10,  1748,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  8. 

36  Gov.  Morris  to  Gov.  Hardy,  July  5,  1756,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  \\,  689. 

37  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  14;  Pa.  Arch.,  2nd  ser.,  11,  619.  This  is  the  earliest  con- 
temporary reference  to  Croghan  that  was  found  in  the  course  of  this  study. 

38  Minutes  of  the  provincial  council,  June  8,  1741,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  72. 


34         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

pastures.  In  1754  the  total  estimated  value  of  his 
property  was  £380.  At  Oswegle  Bottom,  which  was 
located  on  the  Youghiogheny,  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  he  had  another  establishment 
similar  to  the  one  at  Pine  Creek  and  which  was  valued 
at  £300.39  Another  storehouse  valued  at  £150  he  had 
located  at  the  important  Indian  village  of  Logstown, 
about  eighteen  miles  below  the  forks.  This  was  used 
as  living  quarters  by  Croghan  when  at  Logstown,  by 
his  employees,  and  by  Englishmen  who  happened  to 
be  in  Logstown  for  a  short  time.  Farther  down  the 
Ohio  at  the  mouth  of  Beaver  Creek,  in  another  impor- 
tant Indian  village,  Croghan  also  had  a  "trading 
house."  40  Wherever  Croghan  had  a  storehouse  he 
probably  had  at  least  one  person  stationed  to  take  care 
of  it  and  to  carry  on  local  trading  operations. 

From  these  bases  near  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  trading 
routes  spread  out  like  the  sticks  of  a  fan.  These  routes 
were  followed  by  Croghan,  often  accompanied  by  some 
employees,  by  men  sent  out  by  him,  and  by  rival 
traders.  One  route  led  up  the  Allegheny  past  the 
present  site  of  Venango.  At  this  place  Croghan  com- 
peted with  another  Pennsylvania  trader,  John  Fraser, 
who  had  here  established  a  trading  house  and  gun- 
smith's shop.  The  favorite  route  of  Croghan  himself, 
during  his  early  years,  followed  the  excellent  "Great 
Trail,"  which  led  towards  Detroit.  It  passed  through 
the  Wyandot  village  of  one  hundred  families  near  the 
forks  of  the  Muskingum,  where  Croghan  had  a  promi- 
nent trading  house  valued  at  fi^o.41  This,  however, 
he  regarded  chiefly  as  a  post  on  his  trade  route  to  Lake 
Erie.     To  the  exasperation  of  the  French,  he  and  his 

39  Croghan's  affidavit  of  losses  in  1754,  in  Ohio  Co.,  MSS.,  1,  7. 

40  Weiser's  Journal  to  Ohio,  1748,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  349. 

41  Darlington,  William  M.:     Christopher  Gist's  Journals,  37. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  35 

men  pressed  on  until  Governor  Jonquiere  of  Canada 
complained  to  Governor  Clinton  of  New  York  that  the 
English  were  trading  under  the  very  guns  of  Fort 
Miami  and  even  proceeding  to  within  sight  of  Detroit. 
Four  English  traders,  two  of  whom  were  Croghan's 
men,  were  captured  here  by  the  French  in  1751,  taken 
to  Detroit,  Quebec,  and  then  to  France  and  were  not 
released  until  the  British  ambassador  at  Paris  de- 
manded it.42 

In  1747,  Croghan  is  spoken  of  as  "The  Trader  to  the 
Indians  seated  on  Lake  Erie,"  where  he  had  a  number 
of  storehouses.43  He  was  especially  fond  of  the  region 
around  Sandusky  Bay  during  this  period,  because  of 
several  reasons.  ".  .  .  the  Northern  Indians  cross 
the  Lake  here  from  Island  to  Island,  .  .  "  wrote 
Evans  in  1755,44  and  Croghan  himself  wrote:  "We 
sold  them  goods  on  much  better  terms  than  the  French, 
which  drew  many  Indians  over  the  Lakes  to  trade 
with  us."  45  Thus  Croghan  tapped  the  great  eastward 
flowing  streams  of  furs  which  went  to  Quebec.  He 
made  close  friends  among  the  Ottawas,  allies  of  the 
French,46  and  probably  had  much  to  do  with  the  Indian 

42  Jonquiere  to  Clinton,  Aug.  10,  1751,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vi,  731-733; 
Pa.  Arch.,  2nd  ser.,  wi,  126;  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvn,  474  and  xvm,  112;  John 
Patten's  account,  in  Papers  relating  to  Pa.,  Car.,  etc.,  Du  Simitiere  Coll. ; 
Vaudreuil  to  Minister,  Dec.  30,  1745,  c  13A  29:  89-92;  Moreau,  Jacob  N. ; 
Memoir e  contenant  le  precis  des  faits,  a<vec  leurs  pieces  justificatwes,  pour 
sermr  de  reponse  aux  Observations  envoyees  par  les  ministres  d'Angleterre, 
dans  les  cours  de  I'Europe,  App.  V,  890*. 

43  Peters  to  Weiser,  Sept.,  1747  (?),  in  Prov.  Pap.,  x,  17;  cf.  idem,  ix,  64. 

44  Evans:  Analysis  of  a  Map  of  the  Middle  British  Colonies,  30;  cf. 
Hutchins,  Thomas:  Topographical  Description  of  Fa.,  Pa.,  Md.,  and 
N.C.,  96. 

45  Croghan's  transactions,  etc.,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vu,  267. 

46  Croghan  states  in  his  journal  that  while  he  was  traveling  along  Lake 
Erie  to  Detroit  in  1760,  he  met  several  Ottawas  "who  received  us  very- 
kindly,  they  being  old  Acquaintances  of  mine."  -  M ass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  ser., 
JX,  365. 


36         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

plot  of  1747.  Its  timely  discovery  by  the  French  pre- 
vented an  uprising  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Pontiac. 
The  failure  of  this  plot,  together  with  the  coming  of 
peace  in  1748,  and  the  more  aggressive  hostility  of  the 
French,  seem  to  have  caused  Croghan  to  shift  his  major 
attention  to  the  Miami  tribes. 

The  route  to  the  Miami  left  the  Great  Trail  at  the 
forks  of  the  Muskingum  and  led  west  towards  Picka- 
willani,  located  on  the  upper  Great  Miami  a  little 
below  the  mouth  of  Loramie  Creek  near  the  present 
site  of  Piqua.  Gist  visited  Pickawillani  in  1751  and 
wrote  in  his  Journal:  "This  Town  .  .  .  consists 
of  about  400  Families,  and  daily  encreasing,  it  is  ac- 
counted one  of  the  strongest  Indian  Towns  upon  this 
Part  of  the  Continent."  47  A  contemporary  identifies 
it  by  writing,  "This  is  the  Village  where  George  Crog- 
han generally  Trades,  all  the  Indians  of  which  are 
firmly  attached  to  the  English  .  .  ." 48  Here  a 
stockade  was  erected  inside  of  which  were  storehouses 
and  log  houses.  One-fourth  of  the  white  men,  who 
were  captured  when  the  French  attacked  this  village 
in  1752,  were  Croghan's  associates.49  At  the  time  of 
its  destruction,  Croghan  was  making  it  a  new  center 
for  his  trading  operations  towards  the  Wabash. 

Croghan  also  followed  the  Ohio  below  the  forks 
for  several  hundred  miles.  In  1750,  we  find  him  trad- 
ing at  the  large  Shawnee  village,  Lower  Shawnee 
Town,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  where  he  had  a 
storehouse  valued  at  £200.50       His  trading  ventures 

47  Darlington:     Gist's  Journals,  47. 

48  B.  Stoddert  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  July  19,  1751,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs., 
VI,  730. 

49  Goodman,  Alfred  T.:  Journal  of  Captain  William  Trent  from  Logs- 
town  to  Pickazvillani,  86-88 ;  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  7. 

50  Croghan's  deposition  in  1777,  in  Palmer,  William  P.:  Calendar  of  Va. 
State  Papers,  1,  276. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  37  ' 

probably  did  not  go  beyond  the  falls  of  the  Ohio. 
For  this  region  he  used  water  transportation  to  some 
extent. 

From  Pine  Creek  and  Lower  Shawnee  Town  as 
bases,  his  traders  worked  the  region  south  of  the  Ohio 
in  what  is  today  known  as  West  Virginia  and  eastern 
Kentucky.  Here  the  curtain  is  lifted  but  once  to  show 
us  a  highly  significant  and  interesting  incident  and  we 
are  left  to  surmise  from  this  what  took  place  during 
the  years  before  1754.  In  January,  1753,  a  party  of 
seven  Pennsylvania  traders  and  one  Virginia  trader 
were  attacked  by  seventy  French  and  Indians  at  a  place 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  below  Lower  Shaw- 
nee Town  on  the  Kentucky  River.  All  their  goods 
were  lost.  Two  of  the  traders  escaped  and  six  were 
taken  prisoners  to  Montreal;  two  of  these  were  sent 
to  France,  and  later  made  their  return  home  after  many 
hardships.  All  except  one  had  been  associated  with 
Croghan  in  business ;  their  loss  was  stated  to  have  been 
£267,  1 8s,  of  which  about  forty-five  per  cent  repre- 
sented the  cost  of  transportation.51 

It  is  in  the  report  of  this  incident  that  there  occurs 
one  of  the  earliest  uses  of  the  word  "Kentucky;"  it 
being  spelled  "Kantucqui"  and  "Cantucky."  52  Lewis 
Evans  utilized  information  secured  from  members  of 
this  party  for  his  maps.  These  traders  were  trading 
with  the  Cherokees  in  Kentucky  and,  according  to  one 
statement,  they  had  been  even  in  Carolina  trading  with 
the  Catawbas.     The  friendly  Indian,  who  was  with  the 

51  O'Callaghan,  Edmund  B.:  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts  in  the 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  New  York,  603  ;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  627  ; 
Trent  to  Gov.  Hamilton,  Apr.  10,  1753,  in  Darlington:  Gist's  Journals,  192; 
Ohio  Co.  mss.,  I,  7. 

52  Pa.  Gazette,  July  30,  1754;  Deposition  of  one  of  the  prisoners,  in 
Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  663. 


38  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

party,  may  have  guided  them  along  Warrior's  Path 
into  Carolina.  No  reasonable  doubt  exists,  however, 
that  Croghan's  traders  frequented  Kentucky  twenty 
years  before  Daniel  Boone  made  his  famous  excursions 
into  this  region. 

In  a  summary  of  Indian  affairs,  probably  prepared 
in  1754  for  the  new  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  there 
occurs  the  following  unique  description  of  Croghan's 
field  of  activities:  "Croghan  and  others  had  Stores  on 
the  Lake  Erie,  all  along  the  Ohio  .  .  .,  all  along  the 
Miami  River,  and  up  and  down  all  that  fine  country 
watered  by  the  Branches  of  the  Miamis,  Sioto  and 
Muskingham  Rivers,  and  upon  the  Ohio  from  .  .  . 
near  its  head,  to  below  the  Mouth  of  thee  Miami 
River,  an  Extent  of  500  miles,  on  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  Rivers  in  the  world  .  .  ."  53  With  great 
daring  and  boldness  Croghan  pushed  out  to  the  peri- 
phery of  the  English  sphere  of  influence  where  danger 
was  greater,  but  prizes  richer,  than  in  less  remote 
regions.  He  did  not,  however,  neglect  the  latter.  His 
active  and  unceasing  efforts  to  push  and  develop  his 
trade  probably  did  more  than  any  other  one  factor  to 
increase  English  influence  west  of  the  mountains.  The 
export  of  furs  and  skins  from  Philadelphia  showed  a 
marked  increase  during  the  decades  before  1754.  The 
French  came  to  regard  Croghan  and  his  associates  as 
poachers  upon  their  private  beaver  warrens. 

Of  the  number  of  men  and  packhorses  employed  by 
Croghan  we  can  but  make  an  estimate.  In  his  affi- 
davit of  losses  due  to  attacks  by  the  French  during  the 
period  1749  to  1754,  the  names  of  about  twenty-five 
employees  occur  and  more  than  one  hundred  pack- 

53  Detail  of  Indian  affairs,  1752-4,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  238;  the  use  of  the 
phrase  "Croghan  and  others",  instead  of  "the  Pennsylvania  traders",  or  "the 
English  traders"  is  excellent  evidence  of  Croghan's  preeminence. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  39 

horses  are  mentioned  as  having  been  captured.  In  all 
probability  at  least  a  like  number  escaped  attack.  It 
is  also  probable  that  on  an  average  at  least  two  men 
were  stationed  at  each  of  the  half  dozen  or  more  posts 
maintained  by  Croghan.  Those  of  his  traders  who 
were  paid  a  wage  received  about  £2  per  month. 

About  half  of  his  trading  activities  Croghan  con- 
ducted solely  on  his  own  responsibility;  about  one- 
third  were  carried  on  in  association  with  William 
Trent,  who  was  Croghan's  partner  from  1749  to  1754 
and  perhaps  even  longer;  in  the  remaining  portion 
Croghan  was  "concerned"  with  William  Trent,  Robert 
Callender  (Callendar)  and  Michael  Teafle  (Taffe). 
These  four  men  were  associated  in  trade  from  about 
1749  to  1 754." 

Croghan's  chief  competitors  were  the  five  Lowrey 
brothers,  who  were  closely  associated  with  the  Jewish 
merchants,  Joseph  Simon  and  Levi  Andrew  Levy  at 
Lancaster;  Callender  and  Teaffe;  James  Young  and 
John  Fraser;  the  three  Mitchells;  Paul  Pierce,  John 
Finley  and  William  Bryan;  and  the  individual  traders, 
Thomas  McKee,  Hugh  Crawford,  John  Galbreath, 
John  Owen,  and  Joseph  Neilson.55  The  field  available 
was  large  enough,  however,  so  that  cooperation  rather 
than  competition  was  the  rule  among  Pennsylvania 
traders.  The  competition  which  they  met  from  New 
York  and  Maryland  was  slight  and  for  a  long  time 
Virginia  Indian  traders  had  a  tendency  to  drift  south- 
west instead  of  across  the  mountains.  Probably  a  few 
entered  the  Ohio  country  before  1754.56     However,  one 

54  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  7. 

55  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  85-86. 

56  No  mention  of  such  traders  was  encountered  in  this  study.  The 
various  memorials  sent  to  the  Crown  between  1756  and  1775  by  the  Indian 
traders,  asking  restitution  for  their  losses  in  the  Ohio  country  from  1749  to 


4-0         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

of  the  motives  in  the  formation  of  the  Ohio  Company 
in  1749  was  to  secure  a  share  of  the  profitable  trade 
which  was  monopolized  by  the  Pennsylvania  traders 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  coming  of  the  French,  in 
all  likelihood  a  bitter  cut-throat  competition  between 
the  Virginians  and  the  Pennsylvanians  would  have 
ensued.57 

Croghan's  eastern  factors  included  Quakers,  Episco- 
palians, and  Jews.  Probably  his  chief  factor  was  the 
firm  of  Shippen  and  Lawrence;  the  following  quota- 
tion from  Croghan's  letter  to  Lawrence,  dated  "Pens- 
borrow,  Sept.  18,  1747,"  is  illustrative:  "I  will  Send 
you  down  the  thousand  weight  of  Sumer  Skins 
Directly,  by  first  waggon  I  Send  Down,  I  have  Gott 
200  pisterns  and  som  beeswax  To  Send  down  to  you,  as 
you  and  I  was  talking  of,  To  Send  To  Medera."  58  In 
September,  1748,  Croghan  shipped  "1800  weight  of 
fall  deer  skins"  to  Philadelphia.59  He  also  had  busi- 
ness relations  with  Jeremiah  Warder  and  Co.,  S. 
Burge  and  Co.,  Abraham  Mitchel  and  Co.,  and  prob- 
ably with  others.60 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  even  the  most  prominent 
Pennsylvania  trader  after  he  had  developed  a  prosper- 
ous business,  did  not  furnish  much  of  the  capital  he 
needed,  but  secured  it  in  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster. 
By  far  the  largest  amount  was  supplied  by  Richard 
Hockley,  Receiver-General  of  Quit-rents.61     Richard 

1754,  include  no  Virginia  or  Maryland  traders;  had  there  been  any  they 
probably  would  have  pooled  their  claims  in  spite  of  their  great  rivalry. 

57  Croghan  to ,  July  3,  1749,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  x,  62. 

58Prov.  Pap.,  x,  17;  cf.  Croghan  to  Barnard  Gratz,  Mar.  15,  1779,  in 
McAllister  Coll. 

59  George  Gibson  to  Edward  Shippen,  Sept.  28,  1748,  in  Shippen  Corresp., 

h  75- 

60  Original  accounts,  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  12,  14,  and  68;  Peters  mss.,  hi,  46; 
Etting  Coll.,  Misc.  mss.;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  iv,  524-525. 

61  Shippen  Corresp.,  1,  159;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  743;  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  15. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  41 

Peters,  Secretary  to  the  Council,  also  invested  some 
capital  with  Croghan,02  as  did  other  easterners. 

Croghan  had  probably  the  largest  trade  of  all  the 
Pennsylvania  Indian  traders  in  an  age  when  they  were 
most  enterprising.  He  is  spoken  of  in  1747  in  the 
minutes  of  the  provincial  council,  as  a  "considerable 
Indian  Trader"  and  in  1750,  as  "the  most  considerable 
Indian  trader.7'63  In  1756,  Governor  Morris  wrote 
that  "For  many  years  he  has  been  very  largely  con- 
cerned in  the  Ohio  trade.  .  ." 64  The  lawsuits  in 
the  Common  Pleas  Court  of  Cumberland  County  in 
which  Croghan  was  involved  give  a  side-light  on  his 
business  status.  From  1751  to  1753,  eleven  cases  in- 
volving more  than  £2,500  came  up.65  The  long  list  of 
Croghan's  eastern  creditors  and  the  private  moratorium 
for  ten  years  which  they  had  succeeded  in  securing 
for  him  and  his  partner,  Trent,  is  one  measure  of  the 
size  and  importance  of  his  activities.  The  best  con- 
crete evidence  which  we  have  of  the  relative  size  of  his 
business  is  contained  in  the  list  of  losses,  due  to  the 
coming  of  the  French,  of  thirty-two  individuals  or 
partnerships  engaged  in  the  Pennsylvania  Indian 
trade.  The  total  losses  were  approximately  £48,000; 
Croghan's  individual  losses  were  stated  to  be  over 
£8,000,  or  twice  as  large  as  the  loss  of  any  other  indi- 
vidual; Croghan  and  Trent's  losses  were  placed  at 
more  than  £6,500,  or  twice  as  large  as  the  loss  of  any 
other  partnership  or  individual;  Croghan,  Trent,  Cal- 

62  Deed  Bk.,  A,  1:  19,  Register  of  Deeds,  Carlisle,  Pa.  We  have  a  long 
list  of  Croghan's  creditors  in  1754,  but  whether  they  had  furnished  him 
capital  or  goods,  or  both,  is  not  evident. 

63  Pa.  Col.  Rec.y  v,  72,  461. 

64  Gov.  Morris  to  Gov.  Hardy,  July  5,  1756,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  689. 

65  Ohio  Co.  mssv  II,  114.  George  Ross,  who  was  later  to  become  chairman 
of  the  United  Illinois  and  Wabash  Land  Co.,  and  Joseph  Galloway,  later 
interested  in  the  Indiana  Co.,  served  as  Croghan's  attorneys. 


42         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

lender  and  Teaffe's  losses  were  placed  at  almost  £2,500, 
and  were  among  the  larger  losses.  Thus  Croghan's 
losses  were  about  one-fourth  of  the  total  losses.66  This 
probably  indicates  the  relative  size  of  his  trade.67 

That  Croghan  had  so  quickly  reached  such  a  position 
of  preeminence  was  due  to  several  factors.  In  1741, 
the  Pennsylvania  traders  had  opened  up,  but  not  yet 
exhausted,  the  rich  resources  of  the  upper  Ohio  country. 
The  French  left  it  unoccupied  for  another  decade  and 
for  almost  half  that  time  war  practically  eliminated 
them  as  competitors.  During  King  George's  War  the 
operations  of  the  British  navy  made  it  so  difficult  for 
the  French  to  secure  goods  for  the  Indian  trade  that 
prices  advanced  as  much  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  per 
cent.  The  effect  of  these  conditions  on  Indian  rela- 
tions is  suggested  in  the  following  unusual  episode  re- 
ported by  Weiser  in  1747.  A  French  trader  in  the 
Ohio  country  offered  but  one  charge  of  powder  and 
one  bullet  to  an  Indian  in  exchange  for  a  beaver  skin. 
Thereupon  "The  Indian  took  up  his  Hatchet,  and 
knock'd  him  on  the  head,  and  killed  him  upon  the  Spot." 
Several  factors  made  it  also  easy  in  time  of  peace  for 
Croghan  and  his  fellow  English  traders  to  meet  French 
competition.  The  English  practically  had  a  monopoly 
of  rum  and  strouds,  two  of  the  most  important  articles 
that  entered  into  the  Indian  trade;  other  articles  for 
this  trade  could  be  manufactured  more  advantageously 

66  Ohio.  Co.  mss.,  1,  85-86;  cf.  idem,  I,  7.  In  a  letter  to  Sir  William 
Johnson,  May  15,  1765,  Croghan  estimates  both  his  own  and  Trent's  losses 
at  between  £5,000  and  £6,000,  or  about  half  their  government  claim. -John- 
son mss.,  I,  168.  This  would  not  affect  the  relativity  of  his  losses,  however. 
Cf.  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  \,  663;  Darlington:     Gisfs  Journals,  192. 

67  A  modern  French  historian  writes  of  the  "f  ameux  traitant  George 
Croghan  Tadversaire  acharne  des  Francais."  -  Villiers  du  Terrage:  Les 
Dernieres  Annees  de  la  Louisiane  Francaise,  87;  cf.  Moreau:  Memoire 
contenant  le  precis  des  faits,  etc.,  App.  v,  89ff. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  43 

by  the  English  than  by  the  French.  Though  the  Eng- 
lish traders  were  not  directly  supported  by  their  gov- 
ernment, neither  were  they  handicapped  by  minute 
regulations.  The  northern  winter  closed  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  for  nine  months  out  of  the  year.  Because 
of  the  rapids  in  this  river  it  took  the  French  from 
twenty  to  forty  days  to  go  from  Montreal  to  the 
Niagara  portage,  whereas  Pennsylvania  traders  could 
go  from  the  Susquehanna  to  the  Ohio  in  less  than 
twenty  days.68 

Moreover,  the  character  of  most  of  the  English 
traders  was  such  that  it  was  not  difficult  for  an  able 
man  to  surpass  them.  Governor  Dinwiddie  wrote  to 
Governor  Hamilton  of  Pennsylvania  on  May  21,  1753 : 
"The  Indian  traders,  in  general,  appear  to  me  to  be 
a  set  of  abandoned  wretches,"  and  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  a  message  to  the  Governor,  February 
27,  1754,  said:  ".  .  .  our  Indian  trade  [is]  car- 
ried on  (some  few  excepted)  by  the  vilest  of  our 
own  Inhabitants  and  Convicts  imported  from  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  .  .  These  trade  without  Con- 
troul  either  beyond  the  Limits  or  at  least  beyond  the 
Power  of  our  Laws,  debauching  the  Indians  and  them- 
selves with  spirituous  Liquors.  .  ."  69  Croghan,  like 
James  Adair  and  Alexander  Henry,  was  one  of  the 
few  men  of  ability  who  personally  embarked  in  the 
Indian  trade.  The  malicious  envy  of  his  fellow 
traders,  however,  was  seldom  aroused  by  his  success. 
Christopher  Gist,  the  agent  of  the  jealous  Ohio  Com- 

68  Vaudreuil  to  Minister,  Apr.  12,  1746,  c  13A,  30:  57,  245;  same  to  same, 
Apr.  8,  1747,  c  i3A,  31:  52-55;  Instructions  to  La  Galissoniere,  etc.,  Feb.  23, 
1748,  B  87:  31;  c  1 3 A,  36:  309;  La  Galissoniere  and  Hocquart  to  Minister, 
Oct.  7,  1747,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvn,  470,  503;  Beauharnais  to  Minister, 
Sept.  22,  1746,  idem,  xvn,  450;  Celoron's  Journal,  idem,  xvm,  43,  57;  Weiser's 
Report  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  86. 

69  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  630,  749. 


44         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

pany,  described  him  as  "a  meer  Idol  among  his  Coun- 
trymen, the  Irish  traders."  However,  when  Gist  was 
traveling  in  the  interests  of  the  Ohio  Company  through 
what  is  now  Ohio  and  encountered  the  hostility  of  the 
Indians,  he  used  Croghan's  name  to  protect  himself  and 
was  glad  to  avail  himself  of  Croghan's  company  and 
influence  during  the  journey.70 

Neither  did  Croghan  arouse  the  enmity  of  the 
natives,  as  did  so  many  traders,  but  instead,  he  fur- 
thered his  trading  operations  by  making  intimate 
friends  among  the  Indians,  particularly  of  their  chiefs; 
these  friends  were  to  stand  him  in  good  stead  at  critical 
times  in  later  years.71  At  Logstown,  in  1752,  when  the 
treaty  was  being  made  between  Virginia  and  the  Ohio 
Indians,  the  leading  Iroquois  chief,  Half  King,  spoke 
of  Croghan  as  "our  brother,  the  Buck"  who  "is  ap- 
proved of  by  our  Council  at  Onondago,  for  we  sent  to 
them  to  let  them  know  how  he  has  helped  us  in  our 
Councils  here:  and  to  let  you  and  him  know  that  he  is 
one  of  our  People  and  shall  help  us  still  and  be  one  of 
our  Council."  72 

The  friendship  of  the  Indians  for  Croghan  was  due 
to  various  factors.  He  learned  the  Delaware  and 
Iroquois  languages  and  could  express  himself  in  the 
figurative  speech  so  dear  to  the  Indian.73  He  had  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  their  customs  and  traits  of 
character.     Most  important  of  all,  however,  was  the 

70  Darlington:     Gist's  Journals,  35. 

71  Croghan's  journals  and  letters,  in  Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold :  Early 
Western  Travels,  I,  82,  107,  142,  150. 

72  "Journal  of  the  Virginia  Commissioners,"  in  Va.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and 
Biog.,  XIII,  165 ;  this  report  was  made  by  rivals  of  Croghan.  Thomson  states 
that  Croghan,  when  in  council,  sometimes  claimed  he  was  an  Indian. - 
Alienation  of  the  Delaivares  and  Shaivanese,  173. 

73  Croghan's  deposition  in  1764,  in  Wyoming  Controversy,  V,  71,  Penn 
mss.  ;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  295. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  45 

fact  that  he  regarded  the  Indian,  not  as  a  dog,  but  as  a 
human  being.  The  Indian  was  ready  to  befriend  the 
trader  who  was  reliable  and  fair  in  his  dealings  and 
who  was  willing  to  render  services  to  the  red  man 
when  sick  or  in  need.  Not  once  do  the  records  exam- 
ined for  this  study  tell  us  that  Croghan  personally 
killed  an  Indian  or  that  he  gloried  in  their  destruction. 
He  labored  to  maintain  peace  between  the  Indians  and 
the  English,  knowing  well  that  an  Indian  war  might 
mean  death  to  many  traders  and  would  almost  certainly 
mean  bankruptcy  to  him,  since  almost  the  whole  of  his 
fortune  was  represented  in  packs  of  skins  and  furs  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  from  the  nearest  white  settlements 
across  the  mountains.  That  Croghan  was  fearless  is 
self-evident;  every  Indian  trader  accepted  danger  as 
a  matter  of  his  daily  routine.  The  average  trader's 
life  must  have  been  short.  If  a  trader  survived  crisis 
after  crisis  when  others  were  ruthlessly  struck  down, 
it  was  usually  due  to  h;s  /ndian  friends  and  his  own 
superior  intelligence.  The  material  weapons  of  the 
white  man  were  of  but  little  value  as  a  means  of  defense 
in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country.74  Other  personal 
qualities  which  helped  to  make  Croghan  successful 
were  his  habit  of  early  rising  and  of  putting  in  long 
hours  of  work,  his  vigor,  and  his  shrewd  tactfulness  in 
barter.75 

While  a  number  of  factors  were  responsible  for 
Croghan's  success,  but  one  factor,  over  which  he  had 
no  control,  was  responsible  for  his  bankruptcy,  viz.,  the 
aggression  of  the  French  in  the  Ohio  country  from  1749 
to  1754.     The  Pennsylvania  traders  in  a  memorial  ask- 

74Byars:  "The  Fur  Trade,  the  Beginning  of  Transcontinental  Highways 
as  Trails  followed  by  Fur  Traders,"  in  Gratz  Pap.,  1st  ser.,  vi,  1-35 ;  cf. 
idem,  vi,  44-50. 

"///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  316. 


46         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ing  restitution  stated  that  the  French  forces  and  their 
Indian  allies  "most  barberously  and  unexpectedly  at- 
tacked" them  in  time  of  profound  peace  in  Europe.76 
Croghan  summarized  the  effect  on  himself  as  follows : 
"Capt  Trent  and  myself  were  deeply  engaged  in  the 
Indian  Trade.  We  had  trusted  out  great  quantities  of 
Goods  to  the  Traders ;  the  chief  of  them  were  ruined 
by  Robberies  committed  on  them  by  the  French  and 
their  Indians  and  those  which  were  not  quite  ruined 
when  the  French  army  came  down  as  well  as  ours  for 
what  the  French  and  Indians  had  not  robed  us  of,  we 
lost  by  the  Indians  being  prevented  from  hunting,  by 
which  means  we  lost  all  our  debts.  After  this  Coll. 
Washington  pressed  our  Horses  by  which  means  a 
parcell  of  Goods  and  Horses  we  had  left  fell  into  the 
Enemy's  hands,  our  whole  losses  amounts  to  between 
five  and  Six  Thousand  Pounds."  7T 

This  estimate  included  goods  and  horses  taken  at 
Venango  in  1749,  and  valued  at  approximately  £1,255; 
goods  valued  at  £329  taken  with  two  traders  on  the 
upper  Scioto  in  1749;  seven  horse  loads  of  skins  and 
two  men  taken  west  of  Muskingum  in  1750;  and  three 
men  and  their  goods  taken  in  the  Miami  country  in 
1 75 1.  At  the  capture  of  Pickawillani,  assuming  that 
Croghan  had  an  equal  share  in  those  goods  which  be- 
longed to  Croghan  and  Trent  and  to  Croghan,  Trent, 
Callender,  and  TeafTe,  Croghan  lost  approximately 
£1,000,  or  one-third  of  the  total  loss.  In  1753,  goods 
valued  at  £267,  18s.  were  captured  on  the  Kentucky 
River.  The  news  of  other  attacks  by  the  French  early 
in  1753,  sent  Croghan  and  some  of  his  traders  hurrying 
back  through  the  woods  or  up  the  Ohio  and  caused 

76  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  5. 

77  Croghan  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  May  15,  1765,  in  Johnson  mss.,  I,  168; 
Croghan's  affidavit  of  losses,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  I,  7-8. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  47 

Trent  to  leave  Virginia  with  provisions  for  them.  No 
longer  was  it  safe  for  an  English  trader  to  venture  far 
beyond  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  John  Fraser,  who  had 
left  Venango  and  established  himself  fourteen  miles 
south  of  the  forks,  wrote  on  August  27,  1753  :  "I  have 
not  got  any  Skins  this  Summer,  for  there  has  not  been 
an  Indian  between  Weningo  and  the  Pict  Country  hunt- 
ing this  Summer,  by  reason  of  the  French."  78  In  the 
fall  of  1753,  the  French  occupied  Venango.  Callender 
and  TeafTe,  Croghan's  associates,  wrote  home  describ- 
ing conditions  and  added,  "Pray,  Sir,  keep  the  News 
from  our  wives,  but  let  Mr.  Peters  know  of  it, 
.  .  ." 79  Croghan's  men  and  packhorses  were  near 
the  Ohio  in  1754,  awaiting  developments,  when  Wash- 
ington commandeered  the  horses  to  help  carry  his  can- 
non and  stores  on  his  retreat  to  Fort  Necessity,  leaving 
to  the  French  goods  of  Croghan  and  Trent,  valued  at 

£369. 

Croghan's  losses  included,   besides  movable  goods 

and  horses,  boats,  buildings,  and  improvements  on 
lands;  debts  of  the  Indians,  which  made  up  one-half  of 
the  total  losses;  and  most  serious  of  all,  the  entire  field 
of  his  activities,  where  all  of  his  customers  lived,  was 
now  wholly  closed  to  him.  The  business  which  he 
had  built  up  through  years  of  activity  was  ruined  and 
he  himself  was  so  deeply  involved  in  debt  that  if  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  the  east  he  would  be  imprisoned 
for  debt. 

To  a  man  who  for  years  had  known  the  freedom  of 
the  western  wilderness  and  to  whom  the  sky  had 
served  as  a  roof,  night  after  night,  death  was  preferable 
to  immurement  in   a  cell  of   an  eighteenth   century 

78  Trent  to  Gov.  Hamilton,  Apr.  10,  1753,  in  Darlington:  Gist's  Journals, 
192;  idem,  37;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  222,  660. 

79  Letter  to  William  Buchanan,  Sept.  2,  1753,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  684. 


48  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

debtor's  jail.  Croghan  therefore  kept  out  of  the  imme- 
diate reach  of  the  law  and  established  a  new  home 
near  the  path  which  he  had  traveled  for  many  years. 
This  he  located  on  Aughwick  Creek  near  its  confluence 
with  the  Juniata,  at  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Shirleysburg.  Here,  surrounded  by  mountains  on  all 
sides,  was  a  small  fertile  valley  which  still  belonged  to 
the  Indians  in  1753.  Croghan  had  erected  a  house 
here  as  early  as  September,  1753,  and  his  whereabouts 
was  well  known  to  the  authorities  of  Pennsylvania.80 
"I  Live  30  Miles  back  of  all  Inhabitance  on  ye  fron- 
teers  .  .  ."  wrote  Croghan  to  Sir  William  Johnson, 
on  September  to,  1755,81  while  to  Governor  Hamilton 
he  wrote  on  November  12,  1755:  "From  ye  Misfor- 
tunes I  have  had  in  Tread,  which  oblidges  me  to  keep 
at  a  Greatt  distance,  I  have  itt  nott  in  my  power  to 
forward  Intelegence  as  soon  as  I  could  wish.  .  ." 82 
After  Braddock's  defeat,  the  oncoming  tide  of  fire  and 
slaughter  threatened  to  envelop  Croghan  in  his  exposed 
position;  friendly  Indians  came  with  intelligence  of 
raids  by  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  and  desired 
that  Croghan  be  given  "speedy  Notice  to  remove  or  he 
would  certainly  be  killed,"  and  several  times  rumors 
came  to  Philadelphia  that  he  had  been  cut  of!.83 

Life  at  Aughwick  was  not  so  difficult,  nor  was 
Croghan  so  destitute,  as  might  be  supposed.  He  still 
had  at  least  fifty  packhorses,  and  like  the  typical  fron- 
tiersman, he  had  some  cattle.  He  also  had  some  negro 
slaves  and  some  servants ;  the  latter  were  probably  in- 
dentured servants.  His  brother  stayed  with  him  and 
doubtless  some  of  his  employees  remained  with  him. 

80  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  675,  707 ;  Pa.  Arch.,  n,  689. 

81  Johnson  mss.,  u,  212. 

82  Pa.  Arch.  11,  484. 

83  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  452,  454. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  49 

Conrad  Weiser,  who  visited  him,  reported  to  the  gover- 
nor that  Croghan  had  butter  and  milk,  squashes  and 
pumpkins,  and  between  "twenty-five  and  thirty  Acres 
of  the  best  Indian  Corn  I  ever  saw;"  Croghan  made  his 
home  at  Aughwick  from  1753  to  about  July,  1756. 
To  protect  themselves,  he  and  his  men  erected  a  stock- 
ade around  their  log  buildings.  It  is  self-evident  that 
this  was  not  an  ordinary  squatter's  improvement. 
After  the  French  and  Indian  War  Croghan  secured 
legal  title  to  the  lands  which  he  had  improved  and  to 
other  nearby  tracts.84  Under  the  circumstances,  im- 
prisonment would  be  unjust.  Croghan's  services  as 
Indian  agent  to  Pennsylvania  deserved  consideration. 
If,  imprisoned,  he  could  not  reengage  in  business  and 
thus  pay  his  numerous  creditors.  But  most  important 
was  the  need  by  the  government  for  his  great  knowl- 
edge of  Indian  afTairs  and  for  his  influence  with  the 
Indians  during  the  critical  times  which  followed  Brad- 
dock's  defeat. 

In  other  similar  cases  where  only  a  few  small  credi- 
tors were  concerned,  the  usual  method  of  a  general 
letter  of  license  was  employed,85  but  Croghan's  credi- 
tors were  so  numerous  and  scattered  that  this  method 
was  not  feasible  in  his  case.  As  early  as  December  2, 
1754,  he  had  written  Peters  asking  if  the  assembly 
could  not  pass  an  act  of  bankruptcy  for  himself  and 
Trent,  and  if  so,  how  he  should  proceed.  Some  of  his 
friends  evidently  interested  themselves  in  his  cause, 
for  on  November  26,  1755,  a  petition  was  introduced 
into  the  assembly,  signed  by  fifteen  of  his  creditors,  ask- 
ing leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  granting  Croghan  and  Trent 

84  James   Burd   to  ,    Mar.   11,    1755,   in    Shippen   Corresp.   I,   173; 

Croghan  to  Gov.  Morris,  May  20,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  399;  Weiser  to 
Gov.  Hamilton,  Sept.  13,  1754,  in  idem,  149. 

85  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  is,    524;  Byars:    B.  and  M.  Gratz,  31. 


50         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

freedom  for  ten  years  from  all  legal  procedure  to  col- 
lect debts  contracted  before  the  passage  of  the  act. 
This  was  granted  and  the  bill  became  law  on  December 

2,    I755.86 

The  charter  of  Pennsylvania  required  that  all  acts 
be  submitted  to  the  crown  for  approval  or  disapproval 
within  five  years  of  their  passage.  The  act  passed  on 
December  2,  1755,  was  not  delivered  by  the  agent  of  the 
Penns  to  the  clerk  of  the  Privy  Council  till  January  20, 
1758.  This  body  referred  it  to  the  Board  of  Trade  for 
examination.  The  Board  of  Trade  referred  it  to  the 
attorney-general,  who  reported  that  the  act  was  legal. 
The  Board  then  discussed  the  merits  of  the  act,  grant- 
ing the  Penns  an  opportunity  to  state  their  attitude. 
On  May  12,  1758,  the  Board  in  a  representation  to  the 
Privy  Council  recommended  that  the  act  be  disallowed. 
On  June  16,  an  order  in  council  was  issued  in  almost  the 
exact  words  of  the  representation,  disallowing  the  act. 
A  copy  of  this  order  was  not  sent  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
till  May  21,  1760,  nor  read  there  till  July  8.  The 
Board  then  informed  the  governor  and  colonial  agent 
of  Pennsylvania  of  the  action  taken. 

The  order  in  council  expressed  surprise  at  the  delay 
in  delivering  the  act,  that  such  an  extraordinary  in- 
dulgence should  be  granted  on  the  petition  of  only  a 
portion  of  the  creditors,  and  that  the  bill  should  be 
introduced  one  morning,  read  twice  during  the  same 
morning,  never  committed,  and  passed  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day;  it  annulled  the  act  as  being  contrary 
to  the  rules  of  justice  in  all  cases  affecting  private 
property  and  a  dangerous  precedent.       By  the  time, 

86  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  iv,  524-527;  Pa.  Stat,  at  Large,  v,  212-216;  Pa. 
Col.  Rec,  vi,  2ii,  214,  743-745;   Gov.  Morris  to  Gov.  Hardy,  July  5,  1756, 

in  idem,  689;  James  Burd  to  ,  Sept.  25,  1754,  in  Shippen  Corresp.,  I, 

159. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  5 1 

however,  that  this  order  reached  America  and  came  to 
the  notice  of  the  various  creditors,  Croghan  had  en- 
joyed the  benefits  of  the  act  during  about  five  of  the 
ten  years  provided  by  it.  He  had  made  some  arrange- 
ments to  meet  his  obligations  and  was  now  an  imperial 
official  performing  much-needed  war  services,  and 
hence  imprisonment  for  debt  no  longer  troubled  him.87 

The  traders  who  suffered  losses  as  a  result  of  the 
French  aggression,  together  with  the  eastern  merchants 
who  were  their  creditors,  soon  began  an  active,  well- 
planned  campaign  to  secure  restitution.  Efforts  were 
made  by  Croghan  and  Trent  to  collect,  first  from  Vir- 
ginia and  then  from  Braddock,  the  losses  incurred 
when  Washington  impressed  their  horses.  After  these 
efforts  failed,  Croghan,  Trent,  a  number  of  their  em- 
ployees, and  nine  other  traders  gathered  at  Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania,  and  made  numerous  detailed  affidavits 
of  their  losses.  Croghan  himself  made  five  affidavits. 
Governor  Morris  signed  the  complete  document,  which 
listed  about  half  of  all  claims  made.  A  number  of 
traders  also  gathered  at  Lancaster  and  at  Philadelphia 
and  took  similar  action.88 

These  thirty-two  traders  then  authorized  William 
Trent  to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  be  presented  to  George 
II  in  Council.  It  asked  for  reimbursement  out  of  the 
money  received  from  the  sale  of  French  prizes  taken 
before  the  declaration  of  war  in  retaliation  for  French 
aggression.  These  prizes  were  sold  for  £650,000;  the 
total  trader's  claims  amounted  to  £48,572,  4d.  The 
critical  situation  during  the  war  caused  this  memorial 

87  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  Colonial  ser.,  1745-1766,  341 ;  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap., 
Proprieties,  xx,  W14,  W20,  W49 ;  Bd.  of  Tr.  Journal,  lxviii,  189;  Pa.  Stat,  at 
Large,  iv;  576,  577,  582,  584,  585,  592;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vm,  320.  This  is  a  good 
illustration  of  the  way  in  which  royal  disallowance  of  Pennsylvania  laws 
actually  worked. 

88  Ohio  Co.  MSS.,  I,  passim,  particularly  5-7,  85-86. 


52  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  be  neglected.  When  peace  negotiations  began, 
another  memorial  was  sent  to  the  crown  asking  that  the 
French  be  required  to  indemnify  the  traders  and  mer- 
chants. Its  failure  ended  the  attempts  to  secure  resti- 
tution in  money  from  the  French.  Thereafter,  all 
efforts  were  directed  towards  securing  restitution  in  the 
form  of  a  large  grant  of  land  from  the  Indian  allies  of 
the  French;  this  promised  greater  speculative  oppor- 
tunities. After  1763,  the  project  became  associated 
with  the  more  promising  one  of  the  "Suffring 
Traders"  of  Pontiac's  uprising.89  Both  groups  of 
claims  were  still  pending  when  the  Revolution  ended 
all  hopes  of  securing  restitution  from  England. 

Some  of  the  traders  who  had  lost  so  heavily  in  1754 
maintained  that  they  were  not  bound  to  pay  their  debts 
to  the  merchants  unless  they  received  restitution.  "I 
will  pay  them  when  I  am  reimbursed  and  surely  that  is 
all  they  can  ask  of  me  or  anybody  else,"  wrote  one  of 
them.90  Croghan,  however,  tried  to  free  himself  of  his 
liabilities.  As  early  as  1754  he  had  conveyed  some 
lands  in  the  Cumberland  valley  to  Richard  Peters.  In 
1761,  Croghan  and  Trent  paid  £1,000  to  their  creditors, 
transferred  to  them  several  tracts  of  lands  on  Aughwick 
Creek,  and  assigned  to  them  a  prior  lien  on  all  financial 
reimbursement  which  might  be  received  from  the 
crown,  sufficient  to  pay  the  debts  without  interest.  In 
return  Croghan  and  Trent  received  a  full  legal  dis- 
charge from  all  their  debts.  The  debts  which  Croghan 
did  not  pay  in  full  remained  to  trouble  him  to  his  last 
days.  He  felt  morally  bound  to  pay  the  principal, 
but  not  the  interest.  On  March  15,  1779,  he  wrote  to 
Barnard  Gratz :".-..     itt  was  of  my  own  free  will 

89  See  Chapter  vn  for  developments  after  1763. 

90  Hugh  Crawford  to  Trent,  Dec.  10,  1768,  in  Ohio  Co.  mssv  I,  54. 


THE  INDIAN  TRADER  53 

I  promised  to  pay  all  those  old  Debts  which  was  Nott 
Commonly  Done  by  people  that  failed  in  Trade." 
Some  of  his  creditors  insisted  on  being  paid  both  prin- 
cipal and  interest  and  also  asked  for  payment  in  coin 
which  during  the  Revolution  was  very  difficult  to  ob- 
tain; consequently,  they  failed  to  secure  a  settlement.91 

Never  again  after  1754,  did  Croghan  devote  his 
major  attention  to  the  Indian  trade.  At  intervals  he 
made  a  few  shipments  of  furs  and  skins  to  London  or 
Philadelphia,  and  in  the  early  seventies  he  was  assoc- 
iated with  Thomas  Smallman  in  the  Indian  trade.  He 
also  assisted  such  friends  as  the  Gratzs  to  make  good 
connections  with  the  Indians.  His  chief  attention  after 
1754,  however,  was  devoted  to  his  work  as  an  Indian 
agent  and  later  on  to  land  speculation  and  western  col- 
onizing projects.92  Even  before  the  inroads  of  the 
French  into  the  Ohio  region  became  serious,  his  interest 
was  being  transferred  to  furthering  the  official  relations 
between  the  Ohio  Indians  and  Pennsylvania.  Private 
as  well  as  public  interests  caused  such  men  as  Croghan 
to  enter  into  the  service  of  the  government  to  aid  in 
saving  English  rule  in  the  West. 

Croghan's  wide  experience  for  over  a  decade  in  the 
actual  field  work  as  an  Indian  trader  was  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  his  later  career  was  built.     During 

91  Peters  mss.,  vi,  87;  Deed  of  Franks  and  Warder  to  Croghan  and  Trent, 
July  19,  1761,  in  Deed  Bk.  M,  1;  402,  Register  of  Deeds,  Huntingdon  Co., 
Pa.;  Croghan  to  Warder  and  Franks,  Dec.  21,  1768,  in  Gratz  Pap.  1st  ser., 
Viii,  105;  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  March  15,  1779,  in  McAllister  Coll. 

92  These  statements  are  based  on  the  lack  of  any  evidence  in  the  records 
examined  to  show  large  and  consistent  trading  activities.  For  the  exceptions 
fee,  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  495;  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxxvn,  13,  194;  Ohio 
Co.  MSS.,  H,  24;  Croghan  to  M.  Gratz,  July  29,  1773,  and  to  B.  and  M. 
Gratz,  Aug.  26,  1772,  in  Simon  Gratz  Coll.  A  striking  exception  is  a  con- 
signment of  furs  valued  at  £1,200  sterling  and  shipped  via  Detroit  and 
Quebec  to  London.  -  Croghan  to  Richard  Neave  and  Son,  June  24,  1767,  in 
Dreer  Coll. 


54         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

these  years  he  secured  an  intimate  first  hand  knowledge 
of  the  Indian,  learning  how  to  manage  the  red  man  and 
making  personal  friends  with  some  of  the  chiefs.  He 
also  learned  to  know  the  frontiersman  and  the  friends 
he  made  among  his  more  able  white  associates  coop- 
erated with  him  in  later  years.  And  finally,  he  became 
well  known  to  the  wealthy  merchants  and  highest 
officials  in  Lancaster  and  Philadelphia;  these  were  the 
men  who  gave  him  his  first  opportunities  to  show  his 
value  as  an  Indian  agent  and  to  whom  Croghan  was 
to  bring  a  new  interest  in  the  great  West  beyond  the 
mountains. 

During  the  period  1741  to  1754,  Croghan  left  behind 
him  the  life  of  Dublin  and  was  transformed  into  a 
typical  American  frontiersman.  He  followed  the  roads 
that  led  west  from  Philadelphia,  and  traveled  practi- 
cally every  path  and  trail  which  began  where  the  roads 
left  off,  crossed  the  mountain  barrier,  and  then  spread 
out  over  the  region  bounded  by  Lake  Erie,  the  Maumee 
and  Wabash  rivers,  and  the  Cumberland  Mountains. 
He  crossed  and  recrossed  the  mountains.  His  journeys 
enabled  him  to  spy  out  the  finest  lands  strategically 
located.  As  he  lived  day  after  day  in  the  fertile  valley 
of  the  Ohio  and  on  the  Lake  Plain  in  the  primeval 
forests,  he  unconsciously  imbibed  a  deep-seated  appre- 
ciation of  the  vast  possibilities  of  the  region,  which  was 
later  to  develop  into  a  vision  of  the  future  greatness  of 
the  trans-Allegheny  region.  His  deep  love  for  the 
western  wilderness  and  his  outlook  towards  the  west 
were  to  have  a  dynamic  influence  during  the  next  two 
decades  upon  the  leaders  who  lived  in  the  Delaware 
valley  and  whose  outlook  was  towards  the  ocean.  His 
influence  was  also  to  be  felt  in  Virginia,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  in  London  itself. 


Indian  Agent:     The  French  Advance  on 
the  Ohio,  1 747-1 756 

Before  1755,  Indian  affairs  in  Pennsylvania  were 
controlled  by  the  Penns  and  by  the  local  provincial 
government.  The  former  negotiated  treaties  for  the 
purchase  of  Indian  land  claims  and  paid  all  costs 
thereof.  All  other  Indian  affairs  were  controlled  by 
the  governor,  council,  and  assembly  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  large  amount  of  space  given  to  Indian  affairs  in 
the  official  records  shows  what  an  important  part  they 
played  in  the  life  of  the  people. 

For  the  regulation  of  the  Indian  trade,  the  assembly 
passed  laws  to  secure  justice  for  the  Indian.  These 
required  traders  to  be  licensed  and  forbade  them  to 
carry  large  quantities  of  liquor  to  the  Indians.  These 
laws  could  not,  however,  be  enforced.  Generally  speak- 
ing, policies  were  initiated  and  carried  out  by  the  gov- 
ernor and  council ;  the  expenses  thereof  were  met  by 
the  assembly.  After  1750,  when  such  expenses  were 
becoming  very  great,  the  assembly  unsuccessfully 
tried  to  persuade  the  proprietors  to  bear  a  fixed  ratio 
of  Indian  expenses.  It  argued  that  their  interests  and 
the  interests  of  the  province  were  constantly  being 
intermixed  at  many  Indian  treaties  and  that  cordial 
relations  with  the  Indians  aided  the  proprietors  in  the 
sale  of  their  lands.93  Pennsylvania  never  delegated  its 
powers  over  Indian  affairs  to  an  Indian  agent  as  did 

93  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  235,  487,  616,  749;  Pa.  Arch.,  n,  112;  Votes  of  the 
Assembly,  iv,  104,  194-195;  Acrelius,  Israel:     History  of  New  Sweden,  132. 


56         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

New  York  and  South  Carolina.  Instead,  the  governor 
and  council,  for  each  particular  task  to  be  done, 
usually  employed  a  man  capable  of  carrying  on  nego- 
tiations with  the  Indians  and  paid  him  his  expenses 
and  for  his  time.  Conrad  Weiser  practically  had  a 
monopoly  of  this  work  before  1748;  after  1748,  when 
there  was  more  work  than  one  man  could  perform, 
William  Trent,  Andrew  Montour,  and  Croghan  were 
often  employed.  These  four  men  were  also  employed 
at  times  by  Virginia  and  Maryland.  Weiser  recom- 
mended Croghan  as  an  available  man  and  when  Weiser 
became  fully  occupied  with  the  affairs  of  the  Six 
Nations,  Croghan  was  relied  upon  to  conduct  negotia- 
tions with  the  Ohio  Indians. 

The  rapidly  increasing  importance  of  Pennsylvania's 
Indian  affairs,  which  gave  rise  to  the  need  for  Cro- 
ghan's  services,  is  clearly  reflected  in  her  Indian  expen- 
ditures. The  cost  to  Pennsylvania  of  her  Indian 
affairs  for  the  years  1748  to  1752  equaled  the  cost  for 
the  preceding  thirty  years.  Evidently,  King  George's 
War  had  developed  a  new  Indian  policy.  Before 
1747,  the  government  of  Pennsylvania  had  never  taken 
cognizance  of  the  interests  of  its  citizens  on  the  Ohio; 
most  of  its  officials  in  Philadelphia  were  ignorant  of 
conditions  beyond  the  mountains.  A  few  French  lead- 
ers had  realized  before  1744  the  serious  menace  to  them 
of  having  the  trade  of  the  Ohio  region  controlled 
by  the  English.  The  latter  instigated  the  Huron  con- 
spiracy of  1747,  which  had  threatened  to  shake  the 
foundations  of  French  power  in  the  West.  The 
French  were  now  convinced  that  if  they  wished  to 
maintain  their  western  Indian  trade  and  to  keep  open 
the  best  lines  of  communication  between  Canada  and 
Louisiana,  they  must  give  to  the  Indians  better  service 


><  *&  /' 


^^.^ji^^*^^ 


Facsimile  of  letter  from  Croghan  to  Richard  Peters 

[  Reduced  to  about  one-third  size  of  original  ] 

This  letter  is  the  earliest  known  document  written  by  Croghan.     It  is  pre- 
served  among  the  Provincial  papers  in  the  Pennsylvania  State  Library  at 

Harrisburg 


M  iHlfc 

lunaim  if  uliws 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  59 

and  prices  in  trade  and  use  force  to  drive  out  the 
English  traders.94 

The  "walking  purchase"  of  1737  and  the  purchase 
of  1754  made  by  the  Penns,  the  advent  of  the  Ohio 
Company  of  Virginia  and  the  encroachment  of  squat- 
ters on  the  Indians'  land  all  helped  to  cause  the  Ohio 
Indians  to  desert  the  English;  but  the  chief  cause  was 
the  aggressive  policy  of  the  French.  So  successful  was 
this  policy  that  while  the  conflict  in  the  West  during 
King  George's  War  took  place  in  the  Maumee  valley 
near  Detroit,  during  the  French  and  Indian  War  it 
took  place  east  of  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  During  the 
years  1748  to  1754  both  the  English  and  French,  time 
after  time,  met  the  Ohio  Indians  in  council  and  gave 
them  large  presents.  The  French  and  English  councils 
frequently  alternated.  Croghan  participated  in  at  least 
ten  such  councils.  The  struggle  for  the  Ohio  valley 
instead  of  beginning  in  1754,  as  is  usually  stated,  really 
began  in  1747  and  the  first  phase  ended  in  1754  with 
the  French  policy  completely  successful. 

While  the  French  were  developing  their  policy  Cro- 
ghan had  begun  to  interest  the  colonial  officials  in 
Philadelphia  in  an  aggressive  Indian  policy  in  the  far 
West.  He  forwarded  to  Richard  Peters,  secretary  to 
the  provincial  council,  a  letter  dated  May  16,  1747, 
purporting  to  come  from  three  Iroquois  chiefs  near 
Lake  Erie.  It  stated  that  they  had  "killed  five  of  the 
french  hard  by  this  fortt  which  is  Calld  Detroat  and 

94Vaudreuil  to  Minister,  Mar.  20,  1748  in  c  I3A,  32:28,  120  (Archives 
Nationales,  Paris)  ;  Alvord,  The  Illinois  Country,  1673-1818,  184-189. 
Croghan  wrote  on  July  3,  1749,  "I  make  no  Doubt  butt  the  french  will  make 
use  of  all  unfair  Methods  they  can  to  bring  over  all  the  Indians  they  can  to 
there  Interest  Butt  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  Indians  are  So  well  grafted 
in  the  English  Interest  that  they  will  nott  be  Easy  Deceaved."-Prov.  Pap., 
X,  62.  The  difficulties  of  the  French  are  graphically  portrayed  in  the  journals 
of  Celoron  de  Blainville's  expedition. 


60         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

wee  hope  in  a  Litle  Time  To  have  this  fortt  in  our 
posision."  95  This  letter  is  in  Croghan's  handwriting 
and  on  the  same  kind  of  paper  that  he  used  at  this 
time,  indicating  that  he  instigated  this  attack  while 
trading  along  Lake  Erie.  On  May  26  he  wrote  to 
Peters :  "I  am  Just  return*  from  the  Woods  and  has 
brought  a  Letter  a  french  Scalp  and  some  Wompom 
for  the  Governer  from  a  part  of  the  Six  Nations  Ingans 
That  has  thire  Dweling  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Arey. 
.  .  ."  96  He  added  that  these  Indians  had  just  turned 
against  the  French  and  joined  the  English  and  that  it 
was  a  fine  opportunity  to  gain  further  allies  by  means 
of  a  small  present  of  powder  and  lead.  This  he 
offered  to  transport  and  deliver  with  the  aid  of  his 
men. 

These  letters  were  read  before  the  council  and  on 
June  18,  Governor  Thomas  sought  an  appropriation 
from  the  assembly  for  a  present.  He  succeeded,  but 
the  council  took  no  action.97  Croghan,  tiring  of  the 
summer's  delay,  wrote  to  Thomas  Lawrence,  his  east- 
ern representative  and  a  member  of  the  council, 
requesting  him  to  ascertain  whether  a  present  was  to 
be  sent;  should  it  not  be  sent,  he  did  not  wish  to  send 
out  his  men  with  goods  because  the  new  English  allies 
would  probably  turn  to  the  French  again.98  Lawrence 
laid  this  letter  before  the  council  which  then  author- 
ized Shippen  and  Lawrence  to  furnish  a  present  valued 
at  £200.  Croghan  was  to  be  paid  for  transporting -and 
delivering  it.  Peters  was  directed  to  prepare  speeches 
and  to  procure  wampum  to  accompany  the  present,  but 

95  Prov.  Pap.,  IX,  63. 

96Prov.  Pap.,  ix,  64;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  138. 

97  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  72,  97,  102,  119,  120,  137,  189;  Votes  of  the  Assembly, 
IV,  58. 

98  Croghan  to  Lawrence,  Sept.  18,  1747,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  X,  17. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  6 1 

before  any  action  was  taken  Weiser  was  to  be  consulted. 
Croghan's  business  relations  with  Peters  and  Lawrence 
doubtless  aided  his  project  which  was  favorable  to  the 
large  business  interests. 

This  action  was  taken  by  the  council  with  many  mis- 
givings. Up  to  this  time  gifts  to  the  Indians  had  been 
delivered  in  or  near  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster,  often 
in  the  presence  of  members  of  the  council.  It  realized 
its  absolute  dependence  upon  Indian  traders  for  the 
delivery  of  presents  in  the  distant  West.  There  was 
nothing  to  prevent  the  traders  selling  a  portion  of  the 
goods  or  distributing  them  to  favor  their  own  private 
interests.  Weiser,  however,  wrote  reassuringly: 
".  .  .  I  think  George  Coughon  is  fit  to  perform  it. 
I  always  took  him  for  an  honest  man,  and  have  as  yet 
no  Reason  to  think  otherwys  of  him."  "  The  Penns 
and  the  aged  Quaker,  James  Logan,  who  had  advo- 
cated establishing  a  fort  on  Lake  Erie  as  early  as  1718, 
supported  Croghan's  policy  of  opening  official  rela- 
tions with  the  western  Indians.  Finally  about  £40  was 
spent  for  powder  and  lead  to  be  sent  with  Croghan,  but 
when  they  learned  that  he  could  not  deliver  it  in  person 
further  delays  ensued.100 

A  new  factor  appeared,  perhaps  a  shrewd  move  due 
to  Croghan,  when  on  November  12,  1747,  ten  Iroquois 
from  the  Ohio  representing  five  hundred  warriors 
arrived  unexpectedly  in  Philadelphia.101  It  was  the 
first  official  visit  that  any  Ohio  Indians  had  ever  made 
to  Pennsylvania.     Before  meeting  them  in  conference, 

"Weiser  to  Peters,  July  20,  1747,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  1,  762;  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
\,  122;  Henderson,  Archibald:     Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,  35. 

100  Logan  documents,  in  Hazard,  Samuel:  Register  of  Pa.,  in,  210-213; 
Proprietors  to  the  President  and  Council,  Oct.  16,  1747,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v, 
217;  idem,  121,  139,  149;  Peters  to  Weiser,  Sept.  25,  1747,  in  Prov.  Pap.  x,  13. 

101  Pa.  Gazette,  Nov.  12  and  19,  1747.  Franklin's  Gazette  seldom  gave 
news  from  beyond  the  mountains  before  1754. 


62  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

the  council  consulted  Weiser  and  sought  the  advice  of 
James  Logan.  The  Indians  were  informed  that 
Weiser  would  return  with  them  as  far  as  John  Harris's 
and  there  present  them  with  goods  valued  at  £148,  7s. 
6d.;  that  gifts  would  be  sent  to  the  Lake  Erie  Indians 
with  Croghan ;  and  that  in  the  spring,  Weiser  would 
be  sent  to  the  Ohio  with  a  large  present  for  all  the 
Indian  tribes.102  Palmer's  message  to  the  assembly  on 
November  26,  1747,  said  of  the  visit:  "This  is  an  ex- 
traordinary Event  in  our  favour  which  ought  to  be 
improv'd  to  the  greatest  Advantage.  From  the  Situa- 
tion of  these  People  .  .  .  they  are  capable  of 
doing  or  preventing  the  greatest  Mischiefs  .  .  ." 
The  assembly  promised  the  necessary  funds,  but  urged 
that  the  goods  presented  ought  not  to  be  such  as  would 
encourage  war.  Croghan  furnished  men  and  horses 
to  transport  the  presents  to  the  Ohio. 

Meanwhile,  Lawrence  and  Logan  supervised  the  ex- 
penditure of  more  than  £800  in  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  for  the  larger  present  which  Weiser  was  to  deliver 
the  following  spring;  they  also  arranged  for  its  trans- 
portation to  Croghan's.103  During  the  spring  of  1748, 
Croghan  kept  twenty  packhorses  and  several  men 
waiting  for  Weiser's  coming.     Several  factors,  how- 

102  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  Vf,  58;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  145-156,  166,  184;  the 
present  made  to  the  Lake  Erie  Indians  by  the  Quaker  province  consisted 
of  the  following: 

£        s        d 

4  cwt.  Barr  Lead  @  45s  900 

3  half  Barrells  and  2  Quarter  caskes  of  Gunpowder  24        o        o 

2  doz.  best  Knives  @  10s.  6d 1         i        o 

4  Guns  @    55s 11         o        o 

1000  Flints  150 

Cash  paid  John  Smith,  Waggoner  11         2         6 

47       18         6 
103 Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  188,  197,  224;  18  bbl.  of  gunpowder,  20  cwt.  of  bar 
lead,  and  40  guns  were  included  in  the  present. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  63 

ever,  delayed  Weiser.  Shikelemy,  the  Iroquois  chief 
who  looked  after  the  Susquehanna  tribes  and  who  was 
the  friend  of  Weiser,  refused  to  go  with  him  to  the 
Ohio.  He  was  jealous  of  any  direct  negotiations  with 
the  Ohio  Indians.  Weiser  was  also  delayed  because 
some  Iroquois  chiefs  were  coming  to  Philadelphia  for 
a  conference.104  The  chief  reason  for  the  delay,  how- 
ever, was  the  desire  to  await  the  action  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia.  Because  their  interests  were  also  in- 
volved, expresses  had  been  sent  to  their  governors 
with  the  request  that  they  also  send  representatives  and 
presents  with  Weiser  and  Croghan.  The  assembly  of 
Maryland  declined  to  participate,  but  Virginia  appro- 
priated £200  for  a  present.  This  was  transported  to 
the  Ohio  by  Croghan.  He  found  it  difficult  to  collect 
for  this  service.105 

To  explain  the  delay  and  to  transport  the  goods 
valued  at  £200  which  in  1747  had  been  promised  to  the 
Indians,  Croghan  was  dispatched  to  the  Ohio  in  April, 
1748.  He  met  the  Indians  in  conference  and  told 
them  that  in  answer  to  their  complaints  the  governor 
had  issued  a  proclamation  strictly  forbidding  under 
severe  penalties  all  traders  to  carry  any  liquor  into  the 
Indian  country.  It  authorized  the  Indians  to  report 
any  traders  bringing  in  liquor  and  to  stave  the  casks 
they  brought.  This  seemed  to  please  the  Indians,  but 
they  requested  that  their  new  brothers  who  had  not  yet 
tasted  English  rum  and  who  would  be  very  glad  to 
taste  it,  be  given  some  by  the  traders.  When  Croghan 
began  to  distribute  the  present,  he  soon  found  that  it 

104  Peters  to  Croghan,  Mar.  31,  1748,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  13;  Weiser  to 
Peters,  Nov.  28,  1747,  in  idem,  167;  idem,  212,  223-224;  Weiser  to  Peters, 
July  10,  1748,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  8. 

105  Weiser  to  Peters,  Mar.  10,  1749,  in  Peters  mss.,  ii,  116;  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
V,  188,  202,  209,  230,  235,  258,  290. 


64         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

was  not  large  enough  to  satisfy  the  fifteen  hundred 
Indians  and  so  added  goods  valued  at  £119  from  his 
own  private  stock.  To  this  sum  he  added  £50  for 
transporting  them  and  £55,  5s.  for  transporting  the  pro- 
vincial present  and  then  sent  a  bill  to  the  council  for 
£224,  5s.  His  mission  in  the  end  cost  the  province 
£424,  5s.  instead  of  a  little  over  £200.106  Croghan  in 
later  years  did  not  hesitate  to  exceed  in  a  similar  man- 
ner his  instructions  and  powers.  He  had  the  initiative 
characteristic  of  the  frontier:  when  he  saw  a  need  for 
action,  he  proceeded  to  meet  it.  Because  of  this  trait 
he  was  more  efficient  but  less  trusted  as  an  Indian 
agent. 

Croghan  was  probably  responsible  for  the  departure 
of  a  delegation  of  Shawnee  and  Miami  (Twightwee) 
Indians  from  the  Ohio  for  Lancaster  within  a  few 
weeks  after  he  had  distributed  the  present.  He,  him- 
self, returned  home  about  the  same  time  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Lancaster  where  he  announced  the  coming 
of  the  Indians  and  stated  their  desires.  Weiser,  Mon- 
tour, Peters,  four  members  of  the  council,  the  magis- 
trates of  Lancaster  County,  Croghan,  and  some  other 
local  inhabitants  met  with  the  fifty-five  Indians  of 
various  tribes  at  the  courthouse  in  Lancaster  from 
July  19  to  July  23,  1748.     At  this  treaty  the  Shawnee 

106  Croghan's  Journal,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  287-289 ;  idem,  v,  294-295. 
Croghan's  official  journals  were  usually  written  up  in  good  form  by  a  clerk, 
especially  during  later  years.  None  of  the  original  copies  which  the  writer 
has  seen  are  in  Croghan's  handwriting.  Speeches  reported  to  have  been 
made  to  the  Indians  were  often  prepared  beforehand.  The  official  journals 
were  frequently  written  up  from  rough  notes  and  as  a  result  we  have 
different  versions  of  some  journals.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  determine 
whether  the  Indian  speeches  are  accurately  reported  in  the  journals  of  an 
Indian  agent,  for  there  is  seldom  any  other  evidence  available.  The 
accuracy  of  Croghan's  journals  was  questioned  on  several  occasions.  -  Cf. 
N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  268,  775;  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxxvn,  26; 
Thwaites:    Early  Western  Travels,  1,  283-285. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  65 

who  had  robbed  some  English  traders  were  again 
received  as  allies.  The  Six  Nations  then  introduced 
the  Miami  who  were  received  as  English  allies.  They 
were  located  four  hundred  miles  further  west  than  the 
delegation  which  had  visited  Philadelphia  the  preced- 
ing November.  They  hoped  to  influence  twelve  neigh- 
boring tribes  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  English.  Cro- 
ghan  was  one  of  the  signers  of  this  treaty.107  After  it 
was  signed,  Weiser  accompanied  the  Indians  to  Cro- 
ghan's  home  where  they  remained  for  some  days. 
Here  they  were  given  some  of  the  provincial  goods 
stored  there  and  some  goods  which  Weiser  purchased 
from  Croghan  for  £62.  On  August  8,  1748,  Croghan 
wrote  to  Peters:  ".  .  .  the  Ohio  Ingans  Sett  off 
from  my  hous  Last  week  very  well  Satisfy3  with  the 
reception  they  received,  only  the  Sick  Man  remains 
still  att  my  house  till  his  back  is  well."  108  This  treaty 
helped  to  widen  the  horizon  of  the  colonial  leaders 
living  in  Philadelphia  and  increased  their  interest  in 
the  far  West.109 


107  Minutes  of  the  Conference,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  307-319;  Votes  of  the 
Assembly,  iw,  13  ;  Pa.  Gazette,  July  28,  1748 ;  Depuy,  Henry  F.:  Bibliography 
of  English  Colonial  Treaties,  etc.,  27. 

108  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  327;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  9-13. 

109  The  following  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  conference  is  illumi- 
nating: "The  Commissioners  gave  a  handsome  Entertainment  to  the 
Deputies  of  the  Twightwees  and  the  Indians  who  conducted  them  from 
Ohio,  and  after  Dinner  enter'd  into  a  free  Conversation  with  them  .  .  . 
by  their  Informations  it  appears  that  the  River  Ouabache  takes  its  rise 
from  a  Lake  at  a  small  distance  from  the  West  end  of  Lake  Erie,  from 
which  it  runs  South-Westerly  4  or  500  Miles,  and  falls  into  the  Ohio  about 
300  Miles  from  the  Mississippi;  that  on  this  River  and  another  River  called 
the  Hatchet,  the  Twightwees  and  their  Allies  have  Twenty  Towns,  and 
that  they  count  one  thousand  fighting  Men ;  that  it  is  a  plain  Country  and 
of  a  rich  Soil  abounding  with  Game.  The  principal  Deputy  of  the  Twight- 
wees laid  down  with  Chalk  the  Courses  of  the  Mississippi,  of  Ouabache, 
and  of  Ohio,  marking  the  Situation  of  their  own  Towns,  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  of  two  Forts  that  the  French  have  on  the  Mississippi,  whereby  it  is 
Manifest  that  if  these  Indians  and  their  Allies  prove  faithful  to  the  English, 


66         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Shortly  after  this  treaty  Weiser,  Croghan,  and  Mon- 
tour left  Croghan's  on  their  mission  to  the  Ohio 
Indians.  The  council  had  instructed  Weiser  to  study 
conditions  among  the  Ohio  Indians  and  to  secure  intel- 
ligence of  the  French.  Croghan  served  as  a  guide  and 
furnished  twenty  packhorses  with  drivers  to  transport 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  presents  valued  at  £500 
and  £200  respectively.  The  mission  reached  the  Ohio 
on  August  27,  1748,  and  made  Croghan's  trading  house 
at  Logstown  their  headquarters.  During  the  next  few 
weeks  Weiser  visited  the  surrounding  villages.  Soon 
twenty  English  traders  and  a  large  number  of  Dela- 
ware, Shawnee,  Iroquois,  and  Wyandot  Indians  gath- 
ered at  Logstown.  Weiser  met  each  tribe  separately 
and  then  in  a  general  council  he  announced  that  the 
war  had  ended.  He  sought  closer  relations  between  the 
English  and  the  Indians,  especially  in  regard  to  trade. 
After  the  presents  had  been  carefully  distributed, 
Weiser  returned  to  Croghan's  where  he  rested  and 
awaited  his  baggage.110 

It  was  a  significant  incident  of  this  mission  that 
Benjamin  Franklin's  son,  William,  then  a  youth  of 
nineteen,  accompanied  Croghan  and  Weiser.  This 
journey  was  probably  arranged  by  his  father  as  a  part 
of  William's  education.  During  the  long  hours  spent 
on  the  trail  while  crossing  the  mountains  and  while 

the  French  will  be  deprived  of  the  most  convenient  and  nearest  communica- 
tion with  their  Forts  on  the  Mississippi,  the  ready  Road  lying  thro'  their 
Nations,  and  that  there  will  be  nothing  to  interrupt  an  Intercourse  between 
this  Province  and  that  great  River."  -  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  315;  President  and 
Council  to  the  Proprietors,  July  30,  1748,  in  idem,  322;  Palmer's  Message  to 
the  Assembly,  Aug.  24,  1748,  in  idem,  330. 

110  Instructions  to  Weiser,  June  23,  1748,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  290-293; 
Weiser's  Journal,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  w,  348-358.  Another  version  of  this 
journal  is  found  in  volume  one  of  the  Collections  of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa. 
Both  versions  are  used  for  the  journal  as  printed  in  Thwaites:  Early 
Western  Travels,  I. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  67 

sitting  before  the  camp  fires  in  the  evening,  Croghan 
doubtless  told  of  his  experiences  and  described  the 
country  to  the  youth.  William  Franklin  kept  a  jour- 
nal of  his  trip  which  Lewis  Evans  used  in  making  his 
map.  William's  father  sent  to  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Society  in  England  information  which  he  secured  from 
his  son's  and  Weiser's  journals.  William's  journey 
was  an  important  factor  in  arousing  in  both  the  Frank- 
lins a  keen  and  vital  interest  in  the  future  greatness 
of  the  West.  In  later  years  this  led  to  their  active 
association  with  Croghan  in  projects  to  establish  new 
colonies  beyond  the  mountains.111 

The  events  of  the  year  1747- 1748  clearly  presented 
to  the  colonial  officials  of  Pennsylvania  the  possibilities 
of  developing  a  rich  Indian  trade  in  the  far  West. 
This  appealed  to  the  Quaker  as  well  as  to  the  Episco- 
palian and  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian.  A  marked 
increase  in  the  export  of  furs  and  skins  from  Phila- 
delphia followed.  The  expansion  of  the  Indian  trade 
was  closely  associated  with  the  policy  of  an  aggressive 
defense  against  a  possible  attack  by  the  French  and 
Indians.  The  treaty  of  Logstown  in  1748  represents 
the  zenith  of  English  influence  in  the  Ohio  region  until 
after  1763.  In  1749  came  Celoron's  expedition  and 
thereafter  the  English  were  on  the  defensive.  The 
unlicensed  English  traders  became  more  numerous  and 
carried  increasing  quantities  of  rum  to  the  Indians. 
Croghan  probably  felt  the  tide  turning  when  he  wrote 
on  July  3,  1749:  ".  .  .  No  people  Carries  on  the 
Indians  Trade  in  So  Regular  a  manner  as  the  French. 
I  wish  with  all  My  hart  the  Government  of  this  Prov- 

111  Weiser  to  Peters,  July  17,  1748,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  10;  idem,  15;  Frank- 
lin to  Collinson,  Oct.  18,  1748,  in  Writings  (ed.  Smyth),  11,  365;  Evans: 
Analysis  of  a  General  Map,  etc.,  10.  A  search  was  made  for  Franklin's 
Journal,  but  in  vain.     It  would  be  a  valuable  document  could  it  be  found. 


, 


68  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ince  wol'd  Take  Some  Method  to  Regulate  the  Indian 
Trade.     . 

The  English  were  further  handicapped  by  the  bitter 
rivalry  which  arose  at  this  time  between  the  traders 
from  Pennsylvania  and  those  from  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land. The  latter,  supported  by  the  powerful  Ohio 
Company,  promised  the  Indians  cheaper  goods  and 
threatened  to  take  away  much  of  the  trade  which  the 
former  had  long  monopolized.  The  Pennsylvanians 
told  the  Indians  that  the  roads  which  the  Virginians 
were  building  would  lay  them  open  to  attack  by  the 
Catawbas  and  that  the  Virginians  intended  to  take  all 
their  lands.  Croghan  and  his  partner,  William  Trent, 
however,  frequently  served  Virginia  officially  during 
the  years  1752  to  1754.  These  leaders  were  too  shrewd 
to  become  openly  hostile  to  the  Ohio  Company.  The 
plans  of  this  company  made  it  easier  for  the  French 
to  win  over  the  Ohio  Indians,  for  as  Croghan  wrote: 
".  .  .  the  Indians  Dos  nott  Like  to  hear  of  there 
Lands  being  Setled  over  Allegany  Mountain  .  .  ." 
Meanwhile,  Weiser  was  suggesting  that  the  lands 
beyond  the  Kittatinny  Mountains  be  purchased  from 
the  Indians,  settlements  made  upon  them,  and  a  wagon 
road  opened  to  the  Ohio  in  order  to  meet  the  pros- 
pective advantages  of  the  Virginia  traders.  The  west- 
ern boundary  dispute  between  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia began  at  this  time.113 

112  Minutes  of  the  treaty  of  Logstown,  in  Va.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog., 
xiii,  166;  Croghan  to  Peters,  July  3,  1749,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  31;  Croghan's 
Transactions  with  the  Indians,  1748-1756,  in  Indian  Affairs,  I,  51-52,  Penn 
MSS.  A  copy  of  this  document  is  also  found  in  the  Du  Simitiere  Coll.  It  is 
printed  in  the  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  VII,  2673.,  in  the  Pa.  Arch.,  2nd  ser.,  w,  5i6ff.» 
and  in  Thwaites:     Early  Western  Travels,  1,  88ff. 

113  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  423,  424,  440;  Dinwiddie  to  Hamilton,  May  21,  1753, 

idem,  631;  Croghan  to  ,  July  3,  1749,  Prov.  Pap.,  X,  62;  Weiser  to 

Peters,  May  8,  1749,  in  Weiser's  Corresp.,  I,  19. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  69 

From  now  on,  rumors  and  intelligence  of  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  French  became  frequent:  magazines  and 
stores  were  being  replenished  at  Detroit,  boats  were 
plying  on  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and  several  hundred 
soldiers  and  Indian  allies  were  being  collected.  Soon 
Celoron  de  Blainville's  well-known  expedition  was  on 
its  way  down  the  Ohio  to  warn  the  English  traders  to 
depart.  Celoron  dispatched  official  letters  to  the  gov- 
ernors of  Pennsylvania  and  Carolina.  So  hostile  were 
the  Indians,  even  to  his  large  force,  that  he  frequently 
feared  an  attack.  When  Governor  Hamilton  was 
informed  that  Celoron's  army,  a  thousand  strong,  was 
headed  for  the  Ohio,  he  asked  Croghan  to  proceed 
immediately  to  the  Ohio  and  to  send  out  scouts  to  secure 
intelligence  and  to  warn  the  traders.  Croghan  sent 
one  of  his  men  to  Lake  Erie  with  instructions  for 
Montour  to  investigate  and  then  meet  him  at  Logs- 
town.  Croghan,  himself,  started  for  the  Ohio  and 
planned  to  remain  if  necessary  to  aid  in  keeping  the 
Indians  steady.  He  arrived  at  Logstown  immediately 
after  Celoron  had  left  and  did  much  to  undo  what 
harm  had  been  done.114 

These  warnings  of  danger  made  it  desirable  for 
Pennsylvania  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  her  own 
Indians.  Their  chief  cause  of  complaint  was  the  pres- 
sure on  their  lands.  Settlers  had  crossed  the  Susque- 
hanna in  such  numbers  that  Cumberland  County  had 
been  organized  in  1750.  Croghan  was  appointed  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  peace  and  of  the  common  pleas  of 
the  new  county.115     His  chief  service  as  a  justice  was 

114Celoron'9  Journal,  in  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvm,  $6ff. ;  Parkman,  Francis: 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  1,  36-63;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  387,  425;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  45; 
Croghan  to  Peters,  July  3,  1749,  in  Prov.  Pap.  x,  62.  Reports  exaggerated 
the  size  of  Celeron's  force,  it  consisted  of  less  than  200  men. 

115  Stat,  at  Large  of  Pa.,  v,  87-94;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  \,  408,  436,  529. 


70         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

in  connection  with  the  removal  of  squatters  from  the 
Indian  lands  beyond  the  Blue  Mountains  and  in  the 
Juniata  valley  concerning  which  complaints  had  fre- 
quently been  made  by  the  Iroquois.  They  stated  that 
the  magistrates,  who  had  been  sent  in  1742  to  remove 
the  squatters,  instead  of  doing  so  had  made  surveys 
for  themselves.116  In  1750  decisive  action  was  felt  to 
be  necessary.  Secretary  Peters,  Weiser,  a  deputy 
sheriff,  and  six  justices  of  the  new  county  attempted 
to  remove  the  squatters;  Croghan  participated  in  all 
the  proceedings.  Two  trying  conferences  were  held 
at  his  home  with  the  incensed  Indians.117 

The  officials  made  trips  to  various  fertile  spots  north 
and  west  of  Croghan's.  Croghan  furnished  men  and 
horses  to  carry  provisions  and  supplies  for  which  he 
was  paid  £30  by  the  proprietors.118  About  sixty  squat- 
ters were  found.  The  original  intentions  were  to 
arrest,  convict,  fine,  and  imprison  them,  but  two  of  the 
first  five  arrested  fled  calling  back:  "You  may  take 
our  Land  and  Houses  and  do  what  you  please  with 
them,  .  .  .  but  we  will  not  be  carried  to  Gaol." 
A  third  squatter  met  the  officials  with  a  loaded  gun. 
To  prevent  the  squatters  from  fleeing  further  into  the 
Indian  country  or  uniting  to  resist  by  force,  a  new 
method  of  procedure  was  adopted.  Practically  all  the 
squatters  confessed  to  being  trespassers  and  gave  one 
bond  to  appear  in  court  and  another  bond,  five  times  as 
large,  to  remove  their  families,  cattle  and  goods. 
Peters  gave  money  to  some  of  the  poorer  squatters  with 
large  families.  Those  who  removed  were  never  pros- 
ecuted.    Not   even    were    the    better   cabins    burned. 

110  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  iv,  570,  648;  idem,  v,  389,  394,  399,  401 ;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  15. 

117  The  minutes  are  found  in  the  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  \,  431-438. 

118  Accounts,  1,  84,  Penn.  mss.  ;  Penn-Physick  mss.,  i,  25.  Croghan  was  also 
asked  to  stop  the  building  of  a  house  on  a  proprietary  manor. -idem,  V,  10. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  7 1 

Such  a  destruction  of  the  capital  of  frontier  society 
would  have  aroused  the  enmity  of  the  frontiersmen. 
They  felt  that  the  land  would  shortly  be  purchased 
from  the  Indians  and  in  that  case  a  cabin  with  a  plot  of 
cleared  ground  would  give  the  squatter  a  prior  lien 
to  the  choicest  lands.  Still,  an  outward  visible  sign 
had  to  be  given  to  appease  the  Indians.  After  great 
deliberation  it  was  decided  to  burn  some  cabins  after 
the  occupant  had  carried  out  his  goods.  Peters  re- 
ported that  "the  Cabbins  or  Log  Houses  which  we 
burnt  were  of  no  considerable  Value,  being  such  as  the 
Country  People  erect  in  a  Day  or  two  .  .  ."  As  a 
result,  the  westward  movement  of  settlers  was  checked 
and  this  served  to  diminish  temporarily  the  danger  of 
Indian  hostilities.  Four  years  later,  the  Penns  bought 
at  Albany  the  claims  of  the  Iroquois  to  the  lands  in 
question.119 

During  the  summer  of  1750,  Sir  William  Johnson 
had  sent  word  to  Governor  Hamilton  that  the  French 
were  planning  a  second  expedition  to  the  Ohio.  Ham- 
ilton immediately  asked  Croghan  and  Montour  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Ohio  and  invite  all  the  tribes  to  come  the 
following  spring  to  a  treaty  and  receive  a  large  present. 
Croghan  wrote  Hamilton  from  the  Ohio  on  November 
16,  1750,  that  Joncaire,  the  French  leader,  was  at  the 
head-waters  of  the  Ohio  giving  out  presents  and  pre- 
paring to  build  a  fort;  that  traders  and  Indians  were 
being  robbed,  taken  prisoners,  or  killed  by  both  sides; 
that  war  was  expected  by  the  English  traders;  and  that 
there  was  general  alarm  among  all  the  Indian  tribes 

119  Official  report  of  Peters  to  Gov.  Hamilton,  July  2,  1750,  in  Pa.  Col. 
Rec,  V,  440-449;  Thomson:  Alienation  of  the  Delaware  and  Shawanese, 
etc.,  6$8.  The  official  report  enables  one  to  locate  exactly  the  settler's 
frontier  in  1750.  The  notorious  renegade,  Simon  Girty,  was  one  of  the 
squatters  removed  by  Croghan.  The  present  town  of  Burnt  Cabins  in 
Fulton  County  secured  its  name  as  a  result  of  these  events. 


72  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

who  felt  the  need  of  an  English  fort  on  the  Ohio. 
This  letter  Hamilton  sent  to  the  assembly  saying  that 
"it  contains  several  matters  worthy  of  your  greatest 
Attention."  120 

Croghan  had  also  been  entrusted  with  a  small 
present  for  the  Miami,  who  had  been  bribed  and 
threatened  by  Celoron  and  whose  exposed  position 
caused  them  to  desire  closer  relations  with  the  English. 
Croghan,  therefore,  continued  his  journey  westward 
during  the  midwinter.  Christopher  Gist,  who  had 
been  to  Logstown  to  invite  the  Indians  to  a  treaty  with 
Virginia,  was  glad  to  accompany  Croghan  part  of  the 
way  for  safety.  Croghan's  acknowledged  leadership 
in  the  West  was  strikingly  shown  on  this  journey.  At 
the  Indian  villages  he  received  reports  from  traders 
and  Indians;  sometimes  they  told  of  the  capture  of 
some  of  his  own  men.  When  reports  of  the  capture  of 
several  English  traders  came  to  him  at  the  Muskingum 
villages,  he  sent  out  Indian  runners  to  summon  the 
neighboring  traders  and  chiefs  for  a  council.  English 
traders  sent  to  him  three  French  deserters  to  save  them 
from  the  Indians.  After  Croghan  had  arrived  at 
Pickawillani  and  delivered  the  goods  to  the  Miami, 
four  French  emissaries  came  with  presents  to  urge  the 
Miami  to  trade  with  the  French.  The  French  and 
English  colors  were  both  raised  in  the  council  chamber 
and  both  sides  were  given  a  hearing,  but  Croghan  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  French  colors  lowered.121 

While  the  Philadelphia  officials  were  beginning  to 
establish  friendly  relations  with  Indian  tribes  as  far 

120  Message  to  the  assembly,  Oct.  16,  1750,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  485 ;  idem, 
462,  481,  496,  498  (on  page  496,  the  date  of  Croghan's  letter  is  incorrectly 
given  as  December;  cf.  p.  498  and  Darlington:  Gist's  Journals,  34); 
Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Apr.  11,  1751,  in  Offic.  Corresp.,  v,  133,  Penn  mss. 

121  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  437,  455,  460;  Darlington:  Gist's  Journals,  37-53, 
Passim. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  73 

west  as  the  Wabash,  Croghan  was  cultivating  relations 
with  tribes  beyond  the  Wabash  towards  the  Missis- 
sippi. However,  he  could  not  carry  official  support 
with  him  into  this  distant  region.  In  February,  1751, 
while  he  was  at  Pickawillani,  chiefs  of  the  Piankashaw 
and  Wea  (Wawioughtanes)  Indians,  two  tribes  living 
west  of  the  Wabash  River,  came  to  him  and  requested 
to  be  received  as  English  allies.  A  treaty  was  drawn 
up  and  signed  by  Croghan,  Montour,  Gist,  and  three 
other  traders.  Croghan  assumed  the  authority  to  pre- 
sent these  Indians  with  goods  to  the  amount  of  £100. 
These  probably  came  out  of  his  private  storehouse  at 
Pickawillani,  but  he  presented  them  in  the  name  of 
Pennsylvania  and  upon  his  return  he  presented  his  bill 
for  them  to  the  council.  Governor  Hamilton  sent  the 
treaty,  Croghan's  reports  and  his  bill  to  the  assembly, 
but  the  assembly  repudiated  the  treaty  and  requested 
the  governor  to  be  careful  to  select  Indian  agents  who 
could  be  trusted  not  to  exceed  their  instructions.122 
The  treaty  was  not  without  effect,  however,  nor  did 
Croghan  lose  on  his  investment.  During  the  next 
year,  the  Piankashaw  killed  five  Frenchmen  near  Lake 
Erie,  and  two  Frenchmen  and  two  slaves  near  Vin- 
cennes;  thirty-three  of  their  warriors  appeared  at  Kas- 
kaskia  in  a  conspiracy  with  the  Illinois  to  destroy  the 
French  villages  on  the  Mississippi.  Vaudreuil  re- 
ported home  that  the  Piankashaw  favored  the  English 
and  helped  to  seduce  other  tribes  from  the  French. 
The  French  finally  imprisoned  their  chief.  Croghan 
was  probably  reimbursed  by  his  profits  from  the  in- 

122  Gibson:  A  General  Map  of  the  Middle  British  Colonies,  etc.,  1758; 
Croghan's  report,  the  treaty,  and  the  messages  of  the  governor  and  assembly- 
are  found  in  the  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  521-527.  In  Hodge,  Frederick  W.: 
Handbook  of  American  Indians,  11,  925  and  926,  this  treaty  is  erroneously 
dated  1757  and  associated  with  Virginia. 


74         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

creased  trade.  In  1765,  during  the  critical  days  after 
Croghan  had  been  attacked,  tomahawked,  and  then 
taken  prisoner  to  the  Piankashaw  country,  his  old  ac- 
quaintances among  that  tribe  befriended  him.123 

When  Croghan  returned  to  Philadelphia  about  May 
1,  1751,  he  found  Hamilton  exerting  all  his  influence 
to  induce  the  assembly  to  follow  an  aggressive  Indian 
policy  and  to  induce  New  York,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia to  participate  in  sending  a  gift  to  the  Ohio 
Indians.  The  governors  of  these  provinces  desired  to 
cooperate,  but  their  assemblies  declined  to  act.  Vir- 
ginia finally  did  provide  a  present,  but  it  was  to  be 
delivered  separately  and  in  the  interests  of  the  Ohio 
Company.  The  assembly  of  Pennsylvania  provided  a 
present  valued  at  £700.  Weiser  was  to  take  charge  of  it, 
but  when  it  became  necessary  to  send  him  to  Albany  to 
meet  the  Iroquois,  he  recommended  that  Croghan  and 
Montour  be  given  charge  of  the  Ohio  mission,  stating 
that  "If  Mr.  Croghan's  Integrity  is  questioned  some 
of  the  Traders  at  Ohio  might  be  required  to  be  present 
and  see  the  Goods  delivered  Article  for  Article.  .  . 
I  believe  he  will  do  all  in  his  Power  to  Act  Accord- 
ing to  your  Honour's  Commands  and  leave  no  room 
of  Suspicion.     .     ." 124 

His  recommendation  was  followed  and  on  May  18, 
175 1,  Croghan,  Montour,  and  ten  other  English  traders 
arrived  at  Logstown  where  a  large  number  of  Indians 
had  assembled.  They  welcomed  Croghan's  party  by 
firing  their  guns  and  hoisting  the  English  colors.    Two 

123  Longueil  to  Rouille,  Apr.  21,  1752,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  2nd  ser.,  vi,  133; 
Alvord:     The  Illinois   Country,  1673-1818,  234;   c   13A,   38:88-93;    Makarty 

to ,  June  15,  1752,  c  13A,  36:  309;  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvm,  58-61,  85-94, 

112-114;  Croghan's  Journal,  1765,  in  Thwaites:  Early  Western  Travels,  l, 
141-143. 

124  Weiser  to  Hamilton,  Apr.  22,  1751,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  518;  idem, 
486-522,  passim. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  75 

days  later  Joncaire  and  a  French  party  including  forty 
Iroquois  also  arrived  at  Logstown.  Joncaire  asked  for 
a  reply  to  Celoron's  demand  that  the  Indians  send  the 
English  traders  away.  Croghan  faced  him  in  open 
council  with  the  Indians  and  adroitly  outmaneuvered 
the  astute  Frenchman.  He  left  with  Croghan  a  letter 
for  Governor  Hamilton  which  stated  the  French  claims 
and  demands;  Croghan  received  it  and  brought  it  to 
Hamilton  for  which  he  was  severely  criticized  by  the 
assembly.  Croghan  delivered  separate  speeches  to  the 
Delawares,  Shawnee,  Wyandots,  Miami,  and  Six 
Nations.  The  domination  of  the  Six  Nations  over  the 
Ohio  tribes  is  well  shown  in  this  council.  It  was  an 
Iroquois  chief  who  answered  Joncaire.  Croghan  con- 
ferred privately  with  their  chiefs  before  he  acted  and 
he  mentioned  them  in  every  speech.  They  also  helped 
him  to  distribute  the  presents.125 

The  most  significant  phase  of  Croghan's  mission 
concerned  the  erection  of  a  fort  at  the  forks  of  the 
Ohio.  When  the  Penns  in  England  heard  of  the 
French  aggression  they  became  alarmed  lest  they  lose 
their  western  lands  and  at  once  consulted  the  Duke 
of  Bedford  and  Lord  Halifax.  They  wrote  Hamilton 
offering  to  contribute  £400  towards  the  erection  of  a 
fort  and  £100  annually  for  its  upkeep  and  suggested 
that  the  "command  of  this  might  be  given  to  the  prin- 
cipal Indian  Trader,  and  be  obliged  to  keep  Four  or 
Six  Men  at  it  who  might  serve  him  in  it;  and  the  House 
be  his  Magazine  for  Goods."  Croghan  was  doubtless 
enthused  by  the  possibility  of  attaining  a  position  sim- 

125  Croghan  to  Hamilton  June  10,  175 1,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  539.  Croghan's 
journal  for  this  mission  is  found  in  Indian  Affairs,  1,  72-74,  Penn  mss.,  and 
in  the  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  530-540.  It  has  been  reprinted  several  times.  In 
Thwaites:  Early  Western  Travels,  1,  58ff.,  the  minutes  for  May  29  are 
omitted.  In  reading  the  above  account  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is 
based  on  Croghan's  own  journal  which  is  our  only  source  for  these  events. 


76         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ilar  to  that  of  Byrd  and  Wood  in  Virginia,  Johnson  in 
New  York,  or  of  a  French  seigneur.  Because  the 
Quaker  leaders  of  the  assembly  were  extremely  adverse 
to  the  erection  of  a  fort,  Hamilton  instructed  Croghan 
to  take  it  up  privately  with  the  Indian  chiefs  only. 
They,  however,  replied  in  open  council :  "We  expect 
that  you  our  Brother  will  build  a  strong  House  on  the 
River  Ohio,  that  if  we  should  be  obliged  to  engage  in 
a  War  that  we  should  have  a  Place  to  secure  our  Wives 
and  Children,  likewise  to  secure  our  Brothers  that 
come  to  trade  with  us,  for  without  our  Brothers  supply 
us  with  Goods  we  cannot  live."  After  Croghan's 
return  Hamilton  placed  the  Quaker  assembly  in  an 
uncomfortable  position  by  recommending  to  it  the 
erection  of  such  a  fort.  The  assembly  took  testimony 
to  prove  that  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  were  outside  the 
limits  of  Pennsylvania  and  it  proceeded  to  investigate 
the  nature  of  Croghan's  instructions  and  his  conduct. 
Weiser  denied  any  knowledge  of  instructions  relating 
to  a  fort  and  Hamilton  denied  giving  any,  though  both 
were  concerned  therewith.  The  assembly  finally  paid 
Croghan's  bills,  but  its  message  to  the  governor  insin- 
uated that  Croghan  had  inserted  the  Indian's  request 
for  a  fort  in  his  journal  and  stated  that  he  either  mis- 
understood or  misrepresented  both  the  request  of  the 
Indians  and  the  danger  from  the  French.  In  spite  of 
this,  Croghan  continued  to  use  every  means  in  his 
power  to  strengthen  the  Indians  in  their  friendship  for 
the  English.126 

The  neglect  of  Pennsylvania  to  erect  a  fort  on  the 
Ohio  helped  to  alienate  the  Delaware  and  Shawnee 
Indians,  for  though  they  now  turned  to  Virginia  and 

126  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  632;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  514,  515,  522,  529,  547;  Croghan's 
Transactions,  etc.,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  268. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  77 

repeated  their  request  at  the  treaty  at  Logstown  in 
1752  and  again  at  Winchester  in  1753,  by  the  time 
Virginia  acted  it  was  too  late.  After  1751,  the  leading 
role  in  the  English  defensive  against  the  French  aggres- 
sion passed  from  Pennsylvania  to  Virginia.  Had  the 
assembly  been  in  harmony  with  Hamilton,  Croghan, 
not  Washington,  would  probably  have  been  sent  to 
warn  the  French  to  leave  Venango  and  Le  Boeuf. 
Though  these  forts  were  on  Pennsylvania  soil,  Hamil- 
ton did  not  act,  for  he  knew  that  his  Quaker  assembly 
would  not  support  him  with  force  if  necessary.  In- 
stead he  could  only  encourage  Virginia  to  act  and  ask 
that  she  respect  the  Penns'  title  to  the  land  east  and 
southeast  of  the  forks.  To  Governor  Clinton  he  wrote 
prophectically:  ".  .  .  I  have  little  reason  to  expect 
they  will  ever  act  a  proper  part  in  Indian  affairs,  untill 
either  some  notable  calamity  befall  our  back  inhabi- 
tants, or  till  they  have  such  injunctions  laid  upon  them 
from  home  as  they  will  not  venture  to  disobey."  12r 

Virginia  took  advantage  of  her  opportunity.  Gist 
and  Nemacolin  blazed  a  path  to  the  Ohio  for  the  Ohio 
Company  and  presents  were  provided  for  a  treaty  with 
the  Ohio  Indians  at  Logstown  in  June,  1752.  Croghan 
was  present  and  aided  the  Virginians.  Their  task  was 
a  difficult  one  because  the  Pennsylvania  traders  had 
prejudiced  the  Indians  against  them  and  because  they 
asked  the  Indians  to  give  up  their  claims  to  the  land 
desired  by  the  Ohio  Company.  Permission  to  erect 
two  forts  and  to  make  some  settlements  was  finally 
granted  and  the  Indians  agreed  to  cooperate  in  de- 
veloping trade.     After  the  treaty  the  Virginia  com- 

127  Message  to  the  assembly,  Mar.  2,  1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  751-756; 
Hamilton  to  Dinwiddie,  May  6,  1753,  in  idem,  629;  Hamilton  to  Clinton, 
June  6,  1751,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vi,  710. 


78  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

missioners  sent  Trent  to  Pickawillani  with  gifts  for 
the  Piankashaw.128 

Jonquiere,  who  until  this  time  had  been  governor  of 
Canada,  had  carefully  refrained  from  using  force  to 
secure  the  Ohio  country  and  had  thereby  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  the  home  government.  The  new  gover- 
nor, DuQuesne,  was  under  instructions  to  drive  out  the 
English  traders,  seize  their  goods  and  destroy  their 
posts.129  The  French  regarded  Croghan  in  particular 
as  an  obstacle  to  their  plans.  They  spoke  of  him  as 
"sieur  George  Crocqueu  Negociant",  "grand-inter- 
prete  Anglois  pour  les  Sauvages",  and  "interprete- 
general."  They  offered  one  thousand  dollars  for  the 
scalps  of  Croghan  and  James  Lowrey  "imagining  if 
they  were  taken  off  as  they  had  great  Influence  with 
the  Ohio  Indians  they  Could  easily  gain  over  those 
Indians  to  them."  So  safe  did  Croghan  feel  among 
the  Indians  that  when  he  met  the  Shawnee  in  council 
at  Lower  Shawnee  Town  on  January  30,  1750,  ht 
boldly  told  them  of  the  French  offer.130 

The  first  important  open  attack  by  the  French  was 
made  on  Pickawillani  on  June  21,  1752,  and  caused 
great  excitement  in  the  Ohio  region.  News  of  their 
intentions  had  been  secured  by  Johnson  and  sent  to 
Hamilton  as  early  as  August,  1751.     Charles  Langlade 

128  Instructions  to  the  Commissioners  and  Minutes  of  the  Treaty,  in 
Va.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xm,  143-177;  Dinwiddle  Pap.,  1,  6;  Va.  Com- 
missioners to  Trent.,  June  14,  1752,  in  Revolutionary  Pap.,  90,  Etting  Coll. 

129  Instructions  to  Jonquiere,  Aug.  27,  1751,  in  B  93:  30-31  (Archives 
Nationales,  Paris)  ;  Instructions  to  DuQuesne,  May  15,  1752,  in  Wis.  Hist. 
Coll.,  xviii,  121. 

130Moreau:  Memoire  conienant  le  precis  des  faits,  avec  leurs  pieces 
justificatives,  pour  servir  de  reponse  aux  Observations  envoyees,  par  les 
ministres  d'Angleterre,  dans  les  cours  de  VEurope,  App.  1,  92-99,  passim; 
Johnson  to  Gov.  Clinton,  Sept.  25,  1750,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vi,  600;  Pa.  Col. 
Rec,  v,  483;  Darlington:  Gisfs  Journals,  44;  Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Sept. 
27,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  173. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  79 

with  two  hundred  and  forty  French  and  Indians 
marched  from  Detroit  and  surprised  Pickawillani. 
About  thirty,  including  one  English  trader,  were  killed 
in  the  attack.  Five,  traders  were  taken  prisoners  and 
their  goods  valued  at  £3,000  were  taken.  Of  these 
goods  about  one-third  belonged  to  Croghan.  La 
Demoiselle,  the  chief  of  the  village  who  from  his 
great  friendship  for  the  English  was  called  "Old 
Briton,"  was  boiled  and  eaten.  News  of  the  attack 
was  hurried  to  Philadelphia  by  special  express,  but 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  were  not  ready  to  aid  the 
Indians  in  a  reprisal.  Virginia,  however,  did  send 
Trent  to  the  Ohio  in  the  summer  of  1753  with  a  present 
of  powder,  lead,  guns  and  blankets.  DuQuesne  wrote 
home:  "I  trust  that  this  blow,  added  to  the  complete 
pillage  suffered  by  the  English  on  this  occasion,  will 
discourage  them  from  trading  on  our  lands."  131 

From  this  time  forth,  Croghan  and  his  associates 
were  compelled  to  cease  trading  in  the  more  distant 
regions.  He  must  have  viewed  with  growing  dismay 
the  rapid  crumbling  away,  as  the  French  advanced 
eastwards,  of  the  business  which  it  had  taken  ten  years 
of  his  life  to  build  up.  His  partner,  Trent,  wrote  to 
Governor  Hamilton :  "I  am  much  surprised  at  the 
several  Governments  to  suffer  us  dryly  to  be  robed  and 
Murdered  without  putting  it  in  our  power  to  do  our- 
selves Justice  since  they  don't  think  us  worthy  [of] 
their  protection."  132 

In  May,   1753,  Johnson  was  again  sending  intelli- 

131  Md.  Gazette,  Nov.  9  and  Dec.  7,  1752;  Goodman:  Journal  of  Capt. 
William  Trent,  etc.,  86-88;  Gibson;  A  General  Map  of  Middle  British 
Colonies;  Callender  to  Hamilton,  Aug.  30,  1752,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  599; 
idem,  549,  568-572;  Trent's  Journal  for  1753,  in  Darlington,  Mary  C: 
History  of  Col.  Henry  Bouquet,  17-40,  passim;  Wis.  Hist.  Coll.,  xvm,  129. 

132  Trent  to  William  Logan,  May  8,  1753,  in  Shippen  Corresp.,  1,  147. 


80         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

gence  to  Hamilton  of  a  large  French  expedition  headed 
for  the  Ohio  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  forts  and  ex- 
pelling the  English.  Expresses  were  at  once  sent  by 
Hamilton  to  the  governors  of  Maryland  and  Virginia 
and  the  traders  on  the  Ohio  were  warned  by  two  mes- 
sengers. These  brought  to  Croghan  copies  of  all  the 
papers  sent  by  Johnson.  Before  this  message  was  re- 
ceived, Trent  had  written  to  Hamilton  that  the  French 
attacks  on  traders  near  Lake  Erie,  along  the  Great 
Miami,  and  in  Kentucky  had  caused  Croghan  to  return 
through  the  woods  with  some  Indians  and  whites  and 
that  the  rest  of  the  traders  were  coming  up  the  Ohio  in 
a  body.  Trent  was  preparing  to  go  to  the  Ohio  with 
provisions  for  their  aid.  He  added :  "the  Indians  are 
in  such  confusion  that  there  is  no  knowing  who  to  trust. 
I  expect  they  will  all  join  the  French  except  the  Dela- 
wares,  as  they  expect  no  assistance  from  the  English." 133 
On  May  7,  1753,  while  these  refugees  were  gathered 
at  Croghan  and  Trent's  storehouse  at  the  mouth  of 
Pine  Creek,  the  Indians  were  thrown  into  consterna- 
tion by  a  message  sent  down  from  Venango  by  the 
trader  John  Fraser.  It  stated  that  the  French  were 
coming  with  eight  brass  cannon,  ammunition,  and 
stores.  On  May  8,  two  Iroquois  runners  from  Onon- 
dago  brought  similar  intelligence.  On  May  12,  John 
Harris  arrived  with  Hamilton's  warning.  In  this 
crisis  the  entire  party  looked  to  Croghan  as  a  leader. 
The  Indians  were  called  into  council  and  asked  what 
their  attitude  was  going  to  be.  The  distracted  red  men 
after  anxious  deliberation  announced  that  they  would 
receive  the  French  as  friends  or  as  enemies  depending 
upon  their  attitude,  but  that  the  English  would  be  safe 

133  Gov.  Hamilton  to  Gov.  Clinton,  May  10,  1753,  in  C.  O.,  5:  1065;  Pa. 
Col.  Rec,  V,  607-609,  622ft. ;  Trent  to  Hamilton,  Apr.  10,  1753,  in  Darling- 
ton:    Gist's  Journals,  192. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  8 1 

as  long  as  they  themselves  were  safe.  Croghan's  part- 
ners, Teaffe  and  Callender,  with  the  two  messengers 
that  had  been  sent  out  by  Hamilton,  returned  to  Phila- 
delphia on  May  30  to  report  in  person.  The  next  day 
the  assembly  appropriated  £200  for  a  condolence  pres- 
ent to  the  Twightwees  and  £600  for  "the  Necessities  of 
Life"  (guns  and  ammunition)  for  the  other  Ohio 
Indians.134 

Virginia  also  provided  gifts  for  the  Ohio  tribes.  A 
deputation  of  about  one  hundred  Indians  came  to  Win- 
chester in  September,  1753,  to  confer  with  Virginia. 
Croghan  was  present  to  assist  the  Virginia  commis- 
sioner, William  Fairfax.  The  Virginians  were  placed 
in  a  dilemma  when  it  came  to  giving  out  the  goods 
which  consisted  chiefly  of  guns  and  ammunition :  they 
feared  to  give  it  out  liberally  lest  the  Indians  use  it 
later  to  attack  the  Virginia  frontier;  but  if  they  did  not 
do  so,  the  Indians  could  make  no  defense  and  moreover 
would  be  offended  and  turn  to  the  French.  The 
Indians  finally  were  given  a  small  portion  of  the  goods 
and  informed  that  the  rest  would  be  distributed  later 
by  Trent,  Gist,  and  Montour. 

The  Indians  then  went  to  Carlisle  to  receive  the 
present  which  Pennsylvania  had  provided  for  them. 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Peters,  and  Isaac  Norris,  the 
speaker  of  the  assembly,  had  been  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  meet  them  and  Croghan  was  present  to  give 
advice.  The  Indians  requested  that  no  settlements  be 
made  beyond  the  mountains,  that  all  trade  in  the  Ohio 
region  be  confined  to  three  posts,  that  prices  be  re- 
duced, that  less  liquor  be  brought  by  the  traders,  and 
that  future  councils  be  held   at  Croghan's  house  at 

134  Message  to  the  Governor,  May  31,  1753,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  616; 
Dinwiddie  to  Hamilton,  Sept.  3,  1753  in  idem,  687;  idem,  614ft.,  657ff. 


82  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Aughwick.  The  commissioners,  facing  the  same  di- 
lemma as  had  confronted  the  Virginians,  informed  the 
Indians  that  the  goods  for  the  present  would  be  kept 
at  their  good  friend  George  Croghan's  who  would 
give  them  out  on  the  governor's  orders.  Such  a  policy 
did  not  send  the  Indians  home  well  satisfied.135 

Meanwhile,  the  French  had  established  forts  at 
Presque  Isle,  Le  Boeuf,  and  Venango.  In  a  message 
to  the  assembly,  February  i,  1754,  Governor  Hamilton 
said:  ".  .  .  so  alarming  an  Occasion  has  not  oc- 
curred since  the  first  Settlement  of  the  Province,  nor 
any  one  thing  happened  that  so  much  deserves  your 
serious  Attention."  Finally  all  the  governors,  after 
months  of  waiting,  received  instructions  from  England 
to  protest  formally  and  then,  if  necessary,  take  military 
action  should  the  French  invade  English  territory. 
Governor  Dinwiddie  now  sent  Washington  on  his 
famous  mission  to  Le  Boeuf  and  prepared  for  active 
military  operations.136 

The  Ohio  Company  materially  aided  his  plans.  It 
had  employed  Trent  to  engage  laborers  and  erect  a 
strong  storehouse  on  the  Monongahela  and  another  at 
the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  In  January,  1754,  Dinwiddie 
gave  Trent  a  captain's  commission.  John  Fraser,  the 
Indian  trader,  was  made  lieutenant  and  Edward  Ward, 
Croghan's  half-brother,  was  made  ensign ;  Colonel  Fry 
and  Major  Washington  were  their  superior  officers. 
Enlistment  was  encouraged  by  promising  each  soldier 
a  land  grant  near  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  Trent  was 
handicapped  by  the  lack  of  provisions  and  when  his 
men  had  no  food  left  except  Indian  corn,  he,  himself, 

135  Instructions  and  Report  of  the  Commissioners  and  Minutes  of  the 
Conference,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  V,  658-659,  665-687;  idem,  693,  703,  708. 

136  Dinwiddie  to  Hamilton,  Sept.  3,  1753,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  687; 
Instructions  to  Gov.  Hamilton,  Aug.  28,  1753,  in  idem,  689;  idem,  660,722. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  83 

started  east  to  secure  supplies.  Croghan  had  antici- 
pated this  demand  and  found  employment  for  his  idle 
packhorses  and  men  by  contracting  with  the  Ohio 
Company  to  furnish  provisions  valued  at  £500  from  the 
back  country  of  Pennsylvania.  Half  of  these  were  on 
the  way  to  the  Ohio  when  on  April  17,  1754,  Contre- 
coeur  with  a  force  of  five  hundred  men  appeared 
before  the  half-finished  fort  and  demanded  its  sur- 
render. The  fort  at  the  time  had  but  forty-one  men, 
no  cannon,  and  but  few  provisions  and  was  commanded 
by  Ward.  He  was  permitted  to  march  off  with  the 
honors  of  war  carrying  with  him  even  his  tools.137 

Croghan  had  been  on  the  Ohio  early  in  the  year  with 
these  old  associates  of  his.  He  wrote  Hamilton  on 
February  3,  1754,  that  Trent  had  just  arrived  with 
Indian  presents  and  with  tools  and  workmen  to  begin 
a  fort.  Croghan  tarried  to  help  deliver  the  presents 
because  Trent  could  not  speak  the  Indian  language. 
The  building  of  the  fort  pleased  the  Indians  and  put 
them  in  high  spirits.138  Croghan  happened  to  be  on  the 
Ohio  at  this  time  because  Hamilton  had  sent  Croghan, 
Andrew  Montour,  and  John  Patten,  to  hold  a  council 
at  Logstown  and  encourage  the  Indians.  Croghan 
arrived  at  the  Ohio  shortly  after  Washington  had 
passed  by  on  his  return  from  Le  Boeuf.  Croghan  in- 
cluded a  concise  summary  of  this  mission  in  his  report 
to  Hamilton.     He  also  reported  that  the  Miami  had 

137  Ward's  affidavit,  1756,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  I,  10;  Croghan  to  Harhilton, 
May  14,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  144.  Washington  accused  Trent  of  great 
timidity  and  of  being  absent  from  his  post  and  Dinwiddie  ordered  Trent 
and  Fraser  to  be  tried  by  court  martial.  After  Fort  Necessity  was  sur- 
rendered the  eastern  gentry  were  more  appreciative  of  the  services  of  the 
Indian  traders.  In  1760,  Trent  sued  Dinwiddie  at  Williamsburg  for 
malicious  attacks  on  his  character  and  was  awarded  £800  with  costs. - 
Washington  to  Dinwiddie,  June  10,  1754,  in  Writings,  1,  96-99 ;  Mercer  to 
Trent,  Nov.  8,  1760,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  34. 

138  Official  Corresp.,  vi,  21.,  Penn  mss.  ;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  119,  144. 


84         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

become  allies  of  the  French  and  that  a  large  party  of 
French  and  Indians  was  coming  up  the  Ohio  to  coop- 
erate with  the  force  which  was  moving  south  from  Lake 
Erie;  that  when  he  had  asked  the  Indians  about  the 
clause  in  Lewis  Montour's  treaty  by  which  they  ceded 
all  their  lands  east  of  the  Ohio  to  the  traders  in  return 
for  cancelling  their  debts,  they  replied  that  this  clause 
must  have  been  added  by  the  traders  who  wrote  the 
treaty,  for  they  knew  nothing  of  it. 

This  council  at  Logstown  was  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult which  Croghan  had  conducted.  When  Croghan, 
Montour,  and  Patten  arrived  they  found  that  the 
greater  number  of  the  Indians  were  drunk  and  the 
drinking  continued  so  that  ten  days  elapsed  before 
they  could  open  a  council.  Moreover,  the  attitude  of 
the  Indians  had  so  changed  that  they  saluted  Croghan 
and  his  party  by  informing  them  that  they  were  prison- 
ers. They  saved  themselves  by  announcing  that  they 
had  come  to  restore  two  Shawnee  prisoners.  The  day 
after  Croghan  had  arrived,  five  French  canoes  with 
two  officers,  fifteen  soldiers,  and  some  Iroquois  arrived 
from  Venango.  When  Patten  walked  by  their  tents 
he  was  taken  prisoner  and  released  only  after  Croghan 
and  Montour  had  gone  to  the  French  officers  and 
demanded  it.  The  threats  of  the  Ohio  Indians  caused 
the  French  to  go  down  the  Ohio,  but  they  returned  and 
on  January  26,  they  met  the  Indians  in  council,  asked 
them  to  drive  out  the  English,  and  gave  them  a  present. 
The  next  day  Croghan  met  the  same  Indians  and  also 
made  them  a  gift.139 

The  English  were  losing  the  support  of  the  Indians 

139  Croghan's  Journal,  Jan.  12-Feb.  3,  1754,  is  found  in  Indian  Affairs,  11, 
iff.,  Penn  mss.,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  731-735,  and  in  Thwaites:  Early  Western 
Travels,  1,  72-82;  Hamilton  sent  a  copy  to  Dinwiddie.  Cf.  Prov.  Pap.,  xn, 
49;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  v,  591-700,  707,  757. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  85 

principally  because  they  did  not  erect  forts  and  pre- 
pare for  defense.  When  the  Quaker  assembly  was 
once  more  urged  to  follow  such  a  policy  it  again 
claimed  that  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  were  not  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  their  province.  This  led  Croghan  to 
write:  "I  Wish  with  all  My  hart  Some  gentelmen 
who  is  an  Artist  in  Philadelphia,  and  whos  Acount 
wold  be  Depended  on,  whould  have  the  Curiosety  to 
take  a  Journay  in  those  parts,  whos  Return,  I  Dear 
Say,  wold  give  A  Ginrel  Satisfaction  to  the  whole 
Province."  140  The  assembly  now  began  to  scrutinize 
the  bills  which  Croghan  sent  in  and  struck  out  £50 
from  one  and  £30  from  another.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
he  complained  that  during  the  past  years  when  he  was 
engaged  in  official  business,  sometimes  at  the  risk  of  his 
life,  he  had  never  been  paid  a  farthing  for  his  time, 
but  only  for  the  hire  of  his  packhorses  and  men ;  yet  for 
the  mission  in  January,  1754,  Patten  was  paid  £50 
while  Croghan  received  no  pay  though  he  had  served 
longer  than  Patten.  This  attitude  of  the  assembly 
helped  to  cause  Croghan  to  leave  for  Virginia.  Here 
the  military  operations  of  Washington  were  to  give 
him  new  fields  of  opportunity  to  serve  against  his  old 
rivals  and  enemies. 

Among  the  more  important  problems  which  con- 
fronted Major  George  Washington  in  1754  were  those 
of  securing  supplies  and  transporting  them  through 
the  wilderness,  and  of  maintaining  favorable  relations 
with  the  Indians.  Croghan  assisted  in  solving  each 
of  these  problems.  Croghan  and  Trent  furnished 
Washington  with  much  of  the  powder  and  lead  which 
he  used  at  Fort  Necessity.     On  May  30,  1754,  follow- 

140  Croghan  to  Peters,  Mar.  23,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  133;  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
V,  73o,  750,  753,  758-765. 


86         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ing  a  conference  with  Governor  Dinwiddie  at  Win- 
chester, Croghan  contracted  to  transport  to  Redstone 
Creek  10,000  pounds  of  flour  by  means  of  packhorses. 
He  also  promised  John  Carlyle,  the  commissary  for 
the  Virginia  forces,  to  transport  an  additional  50,000 
pounds.  Flour  reached  Washington's  soldiers  so 
slowly  that  at  one  time  they  had  none  for  six  days. 
Carlyle  explained  that  neither  Gist  nor  Croghan  were 
fulfilling  their  agreements.  Of  Croghan  he  wrote: 
"I  understand  he's  not  a  man  of  Truth  and  therefore 
not  to  be  depended  on  .  .  .  ",  and  stated  that 
Dinwiddie  was  sorry  he  had  put  him  in  a  position  of 
trust.  Washington,  himself,  wrote  to  Fairfax:  "The 
promises  of  those  traders  .  .  .  are  not  to  be  de- 
pended upon;  a  most  flagrant  instance  of  which  we 
experienced  in  Croghan,  who  .  .  .  had  the  assur- 
ance, during  our  sufferings,  to  tantalize  us,  and  boast 
of  the  quantity  he  could  furnish,  as  he  did  of  the 
number  of  horses  he  could  command  .  .  .  out  of 
two  hundred  head  he  had  contracted  for,  we  never  had 
above  twenty-five  employed  in  bringing  the  flour  that 
was  engaged  for  the  camp ;  and  even  this,  small  as  the 
quantity  was,  did  not  arrive  within  a  month  of  the 
time  it  was  to  have  been  delivered."  Carlyle  and 
young  Washington,  placed  in  positions  of  responsibi- 
lity in  the  midst  of  serious  events,  were  probably  too 
severe  in  their  condemnation  of  Croghan.141 

141  Fairfax  to  Washington,  July  10,  1754,  in  Hamilton,  Stanislaus  M.: 
Letters  to  Washington,  1,  26;  Carlyle  to  Washington,  June  17  and  28,  1754, 
in  idem,  5,  8,  18;  Washington  to  Dinwiddie,  June  10  and  12,  1754,  in 
Writings,  1,  96ff. ;  Washington  to  Fairfax,  Aug.  11,  1754,  idem,  132. -No 
documents  giving  Croghan's  side  of  the  case  were  found.  He  probably 
encountered  the  same  obstacles  that  delayed  Gist,  but  he  was  much  more 
severely  condemned.  The  bitter  rivalry  between  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia 
traders  probably  had  much  to  do  with  criticisms  of  Croghan.  Gist  and 
Croghan  had  many  incentives  to  fulfill  their  agreements  if  possible. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  87 

When  Washington  started  on  his  retreat  to  Fort 
Necessity  he  impressed  the  packhorses  of  Croghan  and 
Trent.  As  a  result,  such  furs  and  merchandise  as  they 
still  had  in  the  woods  were  left  behind  for  the  French 
to  seize. 

Croghan  was  also  associated  with  Washington  as 
an  Indian  agent.  Dinwiddie  wrote  Washington  on 
June  1,  1754:  "Mr.  Geo.  Croghan,  a  Gent,  well  ac- 
quainted with  Ind'n  Affairs,  is  engag'd  by  me  to  serve 
His  M'y  as  an  Interpreter,"  and  added  that  he  was 
sending  some  Indian  presents  in  whose  distribution 
Croghan  and  Montour  were  to  assist  and  advise  him. 
Washington  expected  Croghan  to  enlist  the  aid  of  a 
large  number  of  Indians.  The  task  was  a  difficult  one. 
Some  Indians  came  to  his  camp  as  friends  and  others  as 
spies.  Many  of  the  Indians  felt  that  Washington 
regarded  them  as  slaves  who  were  to  be  sent  out 
alone  every  day  scouting  and  attacking  the  enemy. 
In  spite  of  great  efforts  on  the  part  of  Croghan  and 
Montour,  but  thirty  warriors  joined  Washington  and 
of  these  not  more  than  half  were  in  service  at  any  one 
time.  Washington  was  sorely  disappointed  with  the 
failure  of  Croghan  and  Montour.  They  had  stated 
that  their  influence  with  the  Indians  was  so  strong  that 
they  would  be  able  to  enlist  a  large  number  to  aid  him. 
Their  failure  is  largely  explained  by  Washington,  him- 
self, who  wrote  to  Fairfax:  ".  .  .  if  we  depend  on 
Indian  assistance,  we  must  have  a  large  quantity  of 
proper  Indian  goods  to  reward  their  services,  and 
make  them  presents.  It  is  by  this  means  alone,  that 
the  French  command  such  an  interest  among  them,  and 
that  we  had  so  few.  This  with  the  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions, was  proverbial;  would  induce  them  to  ask, 
when  they  were  to  join  us,  if  we  meant  to  starve  them 


88  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

as  well  as  ourselves."  The  campaign  of  1754  gave 
Croghan  and  Washington  their  first  military  exper- 
ience. That  the  campaign  failed  was  not  due  to  their 
conduct.142 

The  news  of  the  defeat  at  Fort  Necessity  was 
brought  to  Governor  Hamilton  by  an  express  sent  by 
Callender,  one  of  Croghan's  partners.  After  Wash- 
ington's retreat,  not  an  English  flag  waved  beyond  the 
Alleghenies  and  soon  nearly  all  the  Ohio  tribes  drew 
their  scalping  knives  to  aid  the  French.  Croghan 
now  left  Virginia  and  because  of  his  debts  retired  to 
Aughwick.  About  two  hundred  Indians,  still  faithful 
to  the  English,  without  an  invitation  sought  safety  by 
following  their  old  friend  to  his  new  abode.  This 
farthest  outpost  in  Pennsylvania  soon  became  an  im- 
portant center  of  activity.  Leading  Indian  traders 
and  frontiersmen  visited  Croghan  from  time  to  time; 
Indian  runners  brought  intelligence  from  the  Ohio 
which  was  sent  on  to  Philadelphia  by  expresses  and 
then  forwarded  to  Governors  Sharpe  of  Maryland  and 
Dinwiddie  of  Virginia.  James  Burd,  one  of  Cro- 
ghan's  visitors,  wrote  on  September  25,  1754:  "On 
Friday  night  last  about  12  o'Clock  there  arrived  at 
Auchwick  while  I  was  there  one  of  our  Indians  who 
had  traveled  night  and  day  from  the  French  fort  to 
give  us  Intelligence  that  there  was  Three  hundred 
French  Indians  arrived  to  make  a  Divertion  upon  our 
Back  Inhabitants.  This  Mr.  Croghan  desired  me  to 
acquaint  his  Honour  our  Governour  which  you'l  please 
do."  143 

142  Washington's  Journal,  June  21  and  25,  1754,  in  Writings,  1,  118; 
Weiser's  Journal,  Sept.  3,  1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  151-2;  idem,  195;  Din- 
widdie to  Washington,  June  1,  1754,  in  Dinwiddie  Pap.,  1,  186;  idem,  255. 

143  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  IV,  323 ;  Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Aug.  16  and  30, 
1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  140;  idem,  161;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  173;  James  Burd  to 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  89 

Croghan  soon  found  thrust  upon  him  the  trouble- 
some problem  of  providing  food  for  the  Indian 
refugees.  They  erected  some  twenty  cabins  near  his 
house  and  expected  to  be  provided  for  by  the  provin- 
cial government  in  accordance  with  its  promise. 
Game  was  not  plentiful  nearby  and  the  Indians  feared 
to  penetrate  far  into  the  forest.  They  helped  them- 
selves to  such  provisions  as  Croghan's  clearing  fur- 
nished, destroying  thirty  acres  of  Indian  corn.  Cro- 
ghan felt  compelled  to  purchase  provisions  for  them. 
Unscrupulous  traders,  supplied  by  some  county  offi- 
cials, sold  liquor  to  the  Indians.  Some  of  the  Indians 
traded  for  liquor  even  the  clothes  which  they  wore  and 
then  came  to  Croghan  expecting  him  to  furnish  them 
with  new  clothing.  Croghan  endeavored  to  prevent 
the  sale  of  liquor.  He  wrote  to  Hamilton:  ".  .  . 
nor  do  I  even  keep  one  Drop  in  my  own  House." 
Later  he  wrote  to  Governor  Morris:  "I  am  oblig'd 
to  give  them  a  Cag  Now  and  then  myself  for  a  f rolick, 
but  that  is  Attended  with  no  Expense  to  the  Govern- 
ment nor  no  bad  Consequence  to  the  Indians  as  I  Do  itt 
butt  onst  a  Month  .  .  ."  In  order  to  determine 
what  should  be  done,  Hamilton  in  August,  1754,  sent 
Weiser  out  to  investigate  and  report.  He  told  the 
Indians  in  council  that  they  would  be  taken  care  of  by 
the  government.  He  brought  £300  to  Croghan  to  re- 
imburse him  and  enable  him  to  buy  provisions  until  the 
assembly  should  determine  the  policy  to  be  followed. 
Croghan  was  also  told  to  present  a  bill  for  the  damage 
to  his  crops  and  was  assured  that  payment  for  his 
services  would  be  duly  considered.144 

As  winter  came  on  Croghan's  task  became  more 

,  Sept.  25,  1754,  in  Shippen  Corresp.,  1,  159;  Croghan  to  Burd,  Dec.  2, 

1754,  in  idem,  159. 

144  Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Aug.  30,  1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  161;  idem, 


90         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

difficult.  Gifts  had  to  be  given  to  visiting  Indians 
and  to  messengers  and  scouts;  Virginia  accused  him  of 
enticing  friendly  warriors  to  leave  her  soil ;  the  Indians 
suspected  him  of  holding  back  goods  when  he  did  not 
supply  all  their  wants;  the  government  of  Pennsyl- 
vania delayed  supplying  him  with  funds  until  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  secure  provisions  on  his  own 
credit  from  inhabitants  of  the  back  country;  and  to 
add  to  his  troubles  his  own  government  distrusted  him. 
Weiser  had  violated  the  governor's  instructions  by 
leaving  with  Croghan  money  for  purchasing  provisions 
instead  of  purchasing  the  provisions  himself  and  leav- 
ing them  with  Croghan.  He  defended  his  action  by 
saying  that  Croghan  "might  (if  he  intended  it)  pur- 
loin a  great  deal  of  it,  but  I  have  the  Opinion  of 
him  that  he  will  do  Justice  .  .  .  Mr.  Croghan 
must  either  be  trusted  to  buy  and  distribute  Provision 
or  the  Government  must  keep  a  Man  there  in  whom 
they  can  confide  .  .  ."  Croghan  felt  this  keenly 
and  wrote  to  Peters,  his  intimate  friend:  "I  think  itt 
to  hard  to  be  att  a  Loss  by  acting  for  the  good  of  the 
Province,  besides  Laying  my  Self  under  a  great  many 
Reflections  .  .  ."  After  some  delay  the  assembly 
paid,  one  by  one,  the  bills  which  Croghan  presented. 
The  total  cost  to  Pennsylvania  of  maintaining  the 
Indian  refugees  was  about  £i,ooo.145 

Croghan  was  glad  to  be  called  away  from  Aughwick 
to  aid  General  Braddock.     He  offered  the  free  use  of 

130,  146-149,  219;  Weiser's  Journal,  in  idem,  150-160;  Croghan  to  Morris, 
Dec.  23,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  219. 

145  Weiser  to  Hamilton,  Sept.  13,  1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  149;  idem, 
189,  218,  375;  Croghan  to  Peters,  Dec.  2,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  212;  idem, 
209,  218;  Croghan  to  Isaac  Norris,  Mar.  25,  1755,  in  Misc.  mss.,  1,  82, 
Etting  Coll.;  Morris  to  Croghan,  Dec.  7,  1754,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  xm,  51;  Peters 
to  Croghan,  1755,  in  idem,  xvi,  92;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  iv,  401,  477,  613; 
Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Proprieties,  xix. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  9 1 

his  house  to  the  man  who  should  take  care  of  the 
Indians  in  his  absence.  He  informed  Governor  Mor- 
ris that  all  of  his  packhorses  had  been  engaged  for 
Braddock's  expedition  and  that  he  therefore  could  no 
longer  transport  provisions  for  the  Indians.  He  pro- 
vided Braddock  with  about  fifty  packhorses;  this  was 
the  largest  number  furnished  by  one  individual.  One 
compensation  which  Croghan  received  for  his  trying 
services  at  Aughwick  during  the  year  1754-1755,  was 
a  strong  recommendation  by  Peters  to  the  new  gover- 
nor, Robert  H.  Morris.  Also,  these  services  helped 
in  persuading  the  assembly  to  pass  the  act  which 
granted  him  ten  years'  relief  from  his  debts.146 

Croghan  was  called  away  from  Aughwick  to  assist 
in  laying  out  two  roads  for  Braddock's  expedition. 
Braddock  planned  to  advance  upon  Fort  DuQuesne  by 
way  of  the  Potomac  and  contemplated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  garrison  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  He 
wished  two  roads  to  be  built  in  Pennsylvania  that  he 
might  be  able  to  secure  reinforcements  by  two  different 
routes  and  that  he  might  have  access  by  the  most  direct 
route  possible  to  the  Susquehanna  and  Delaware 
valleys  -  the  "bread  basket"  of  the  British  colonies. 
One  of  these  roads  was  to  lead  through  the  Cumber- 
land valley  to  his  camp  at  Will's  Creek,  the  other  to 
run  westward  from  Shippensburg  and  connect  near 
Fort  DuQuesne  with  the  road  which  he  himself 
intended  to  build.  So  important  did  he  consider  them 
that  he  expressed  his  intention  to  postpone  his  advance 
until  they  were  finished.147 

146  Croghan  to  Morris,  May  20,   1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  399;  James 

Burd  to ,  Mar.  11,  1755,  Shippen  Corresp.,  1,  173;  Morris  to  Croghan, 

Nov.  25,  1754,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  203;  idem,  214. 

147  Morris  to  St.  Clair,  Feb.  28,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  302;  idem, 
395ff. ;  Morris  to  Braddock,  July  3,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  372. 


92  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

On  February  24,  1755,  Governor  Morris  received  a 
letter  from  Quartermaster-General  Sir  John  St.  Clair 
asking  that  these  roads  be  built.  He  at  once  went  to 
the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  who  with  a  committee 
controlled  a  fund  of  £5,000,  but  they  declined  to  aid. 
Fortunately,  the  speaker  of  the  Delaware  assembly, 
who  had  sole  control  over  a  fund  of  £1,000,  agreed  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  a  survey.  This  enabled  Morris 
to  appoint  commissioners  to  survey  routes  for  the  two 
roads.  For  this  work,  which  was  to  be  done  as  secretly 
as  possible,  he  appointed  on  March  12,  George  Cro- 
ghan,  John  Armstrong,  James  Burd,  William  Bu- 
chanan, and  Adam  Hoops.  Croghan  furnished  pack- 
horses  and  Indian  scouts  and  was  expected  to  satisfy 
the  curiosity  of  the  Indians.  He  was  also  depended 
upon  to  guide  the  party,  as  he  was  the  only  one  of  the 
commissioners  who  was  familiar  with  the  region  which 
was  to  be  penetrated.148 

The  commissioners  started  from  Carlisle  on  March 
29,  with  two  pilots,  four  packhorsemen,  three  blazers, 
two  chain-carriers,  and  some  Indians.  The  shortest 
route  to  the  Ohio  which  they  found  followed  an  old 
Indian  trail  and  trader's  path ;  it  began  south  of  Ship- 
pensburg  and  then  crossed  the  mountains,  following 
Raystown  Creek  for  part  of  the  way.  So  dangerous 
was  the  work  owing  to  scouting  and  hunting  parties 
of  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  that  the  Indians 
who  accompanied  the  party  deserted  until  but  one 
remained.  A  good  route  was  found  and  blazed  to 
within  eighteen  miles  of  the  forks  of  the  Youghio- 
gheny.  Here  the  approach  of  a  French  party  caused 
a  hurried  return  to  Fort  Cumberland. 

148  Morris  to  Braddock,  May  12,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  380;  idem, 
300,  318,  324,  484;  Morris  to  Orme,  May  26,   1755,   in  Pa.  Arch.,  \\,  330; 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  93 

The  report  of  the  commissioners  to  Governor  Morris 
narrates  the  manner  in  which  they  were  here  received 
by  General  St.  Clair  after  they  had  risked  their  lives 
in  the  service  of  the  army :  "We  waited  for  Sir  John's 
coming  to  camp  .  .  .  [he]  treated  Us  in  a  very 
disagreeable  manner;  he  is  extremely  warm  and  angry 
at  our  Province;  he  would  not  look  at  our  Draughts 
nor  suffer  any  Representations  to  be  made  to  him  in 
regard  of  the  Province,  but  stormed  like  a  Lyon 
Rampant.  He  said  our  Commission  to  lay  out  the 
Road  should  have  been  issued  in  January  last  upon 
his  first  Letter,  that  doing  it  now  is  doing  of  nothing, 
that  the  Troops  must  march  on  the  first  of  May,  that 
the  want  of  this  Road  and  the  Provisions  promised 
by  Pennsylvania  has  retarded  the  Expedition,  which 
may  cost  them  their  Lives  .  .  .  ;  That  instead  of 
marching  to  the  Ohio  he  would  in  nine  days  march  his 
Army  into  Cumberland  County  to  cut  the  Roads,  press 
Horses,  Wagons,  etc.;  that  he  would  not  suffer  a 
Soldier  to  handle  an  Axe,  but  by  Fire  and  Sword 
oblige  the  Inhabitants  to  do  it  .  .  .  ;  that  he 
would  kill  all  kind  of  Cattle  and  carry  away  the 
Horses,  burn  the  Houses,  etc.  .  .  .  That  he  would 
tomorrow  write  to  England  by  a  Man-of-War,  shake 
Mr.  Penn's  Proprietaryship,  and  represent  Pennsyl- 
vania as  a  disaffected  Province  .  .  .  and  told  Us 
to  go  to  the  General  if  We  pleased,  who  would  give  Us 
ten  bad  Words  for  one  that  he  had  given."  Morris 
complained  to  Braddock  of  St.  Clair's  words  and  was 
assured  that  the  latter  was  ashamed  of  what  he  had 
said  and  had  been  reprimanded.  His  words,  however, 
had  some  effect  and  represented  the  feelings  of  the 

Accounts  of  the  Commissioners  for  Burd's  Road  to  the  Ohio,  in  Norris  of 
Fairhill  mss.,  3-5. 


94         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

English  officers  who  were  disgusted  with  the  lack  of 
support  they  received  in  the  Quaker  province.  Upon 
the  return  of  the  commissioners  they  were  each  paid 
£7,  1  os.  and  all  expenses  for  their  twenty-five  days  of 
service.149 

The  Quaker  assembly  finally  agreed  to  pay  for  the 
construction  of  the  roads  which  had  been  laid  out  and 
the  commissioners  who  had  surveyed  the  roads  were 
instructed  to  supervise  the  work  of  construction. 
Amidst  great  difficulties  and  dangers  a  road  was  cut 
westward  to  a  point  beyond  the  present  site  of  Bedford, 
when  the  news  of  Braddock's  defeat  caused  the  work- 
men to  hasten  back.  The  entire  work  had  cost  the 
province  £3,000.  Three  years  later  Forbes  made  good 
use  of  the  work  that  had  been  done  and  carried  it  on 
to  the  Ohio.  Thereafter,  the  road  which  Croghan  had 
helped  to  lay  out  remained  a  great  thoroughfare  to 
the  West  until  it  was  displaced  by  the  canal  and  the 
railroad.150 

Croghan,  however,  had  no  part  in  the  actual  con- 
struction of  the  road.  On  April  23,  instructions  were 
sent  to  him  to  take  to  Fort  Cumberland  from  Augh- 
wick  as  many  Indian  warriors  as  he  could.  This  was 
the  result  of  several  factors:  of  the  four  hundred 
Cherokees  and  Catawbas  which  Dinwiddie  and  Gist 
had  promised  Braddock,  not  one  came;  the  Iroquois 
were  with  Shirley  and  Johnson ;  and  the  Ohio  Indians 
were  overawed  by  the  French.151  When  Braddock 
heard  of  the  refugees  at  Aughwick  he  wrote  Morris 

149  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  Vf,  30,  190;  Report  of  the  Commissioners, 
Apr.  16,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  368-370;  Md.  Archives,  I,  126;  Hulbert, 
Archer  B.:     Old  Glade  Road  (Historic  Highways  of  America  Series). 

150Kitchin's  Map  of  Pennsylvania,  1756;  Pa.  Gazette,  June  26  and  July 
17,  1755  ;  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  294,  317,  363;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  377-450,  passim. 

151  Robert  Orme's  Journal,  314.  References  to  this  journal  will  be  to 
it  as  printed  in  Sargent,  Winthrop:    Braddock's  Expedition.     It  is  the  best 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  95 

asking  him  to  send  the  warriors  to  Fort  Cumberland 
and  to  take  care  at  Aughwick  of  their  women  and 
children.  Croghan  received  his  instructions  on  the 
night  of  April  30.  The  next  day  he  met  the  Indians 
in  council  and  made  plans  to  start  the  following  morn- 
ing. Before  starting  out  he  sent  trusty  messengers  to 
all  the  Ohio  tribes  urging  them  not  to  oppose  Brad- 
dock.  The  expense  of  bringing  the  Indians  to  Fort 
Cumberland  was  advanced  by  Croghan,  who  later  had 
trouble  to  collect  it  from  Pennsylvania.152 

Croghan  brought  to  Braddock  about  one  hundred 
Indians.  On  May  15,  Croghan  wrote  to  Johnson  that 
he  had  "forty  odd  fighting  Men  and  Lads,"  chiefly 
Iroquois.  These  warriors  refused  to  leave  their 
families  behind  and  so  the  women  and  children 
accompanied  them.  Braddock  took  Croghan  and 
Montour  into  his  service  and  to  Croghan  he  gave  a 
commission.153  A  separate  camp  was  provided  for  the 
Indians  and  Braddock  issued  orders  that  they  were  not 
to  be  spoken  to  nor  molested.  On  May  12,  Braddock 
and  his  officers  met  the  Indians  in  council  and  urged 
them  to  join  his  expedition;  a  "ceremony  of  Drams 
round"  followed.  On  the  18th,  another  council  was 
held  at  which  the  Indians  showed  their  appreciation 
of  the  presents  by  making  "a  most  horrible  noise, 
dancing  all  night."  On  the  19th,  Braddock  again  met 
the  Indians  and  was  informed  that  they  would  take 
up  the  hatchet  and  serve  as  scouts  for  him.  There- 
upon Braddock  ordered  "3  Howitzers,  3  12-Pounders, 
and  3  Cohorns  to  be  fired,  all  the  drums  and  fifes  play- 
source  for  the  services  rendered  by  Croghan  and  his  Indians.  Dinwiddie 
to  Halifax,  Oct.  1,  1755,  in  Va.  Pap.,  1,  Bancroft  Coll. 

152  Braddock  to  Morris,  Apr.  15,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  290;  idem,  308; 
Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  370-382;  idem,  398;  Croghan  to  Morris,  May  20,  1755,  in 
idem,  399. 

153  Johnson  mss.,  1,  168. 


96         CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ing,  and  beating  the  point  of  war,  which  astonished 
and  pleased  the  Indians  greatly.  They  then  retired  to 
their  own  Camp  where  they  ate  a  bullock,  and  danced 
their  war  dance  .  .  ."  On  the  22d  they  were  fur- 
nished with  arms  and  clothing.154 

A  mutual  interest  and  curiosity  soon  developed  be- 
tween the  soldiers  from  Europe  and  the  red  men. 
A  visit  to  the  camp  of  the  latter  was  one  of  the  best 
diversions  available  for  a  soldier  when  of?  duty. 
Richard  Peters,  after  a  visit  to  Braddock,  reported 
that  the  Indians  "were  extremely  dissatisfied  at  not 
being  consulted  with  by  the  General,  and  got  frequently 
into  high  Quarrels,  their  Squas  bringing  them  money 
in  Plenty  which  they  got  from  the  Officers,  who  were 
scandalously  fond  of  them.  .  ."  Peters  recommended 
to  Braddock  that  the  women  and  children  be  sent  home 
and  Colonel  Innes  acted  likewise,  adding  that  all  but 
ten  warriors  should  also  be  sent  home  as  this  number 
would  be  sufficient  for  scouts.  When  the  women  and 
children  were  ordered  home  most  of  the  warriors  went 
along  as  an  escort  and  never  returned.  Thereafter, 
Braddock  seems  to  have  ceased  to  give  much  attention 
to  the  Indians.  Their  number  instead  of  increasing  on 
the  march  as  Croghan  had  expected,  decreased  until 
he  had  but  eight  Indians  left.  At  times  some  Indians 
from  the  Ohio  would  visit  Braddock  and  promise  to 
join  him,  but  they  always  failed  to  keep  their  promise. 
Gordon  wrote:  "These  people  are  villains,  and 
always  side  with  the  strongest."  155 

154  The  best  source  for  these  events  is  Engineer  Harry  Gordon's  Journal. 
References  to  this  journal  will  be  to  it  as  printed  in  Sargent:  Braddock' s 
Expedition.  Here  it  is  printed  as  "The  Morris  Journal",  with  the  author 
unidentified ;  Parkman  in  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  calls  it  a  "Journal  of  the 
Proceeding  of  the  Detachment  of  Seamen";  Hulbert  in  Braddock 's  Road 
identifies  the  author  and  also  prints  the  journal.  Gordon  belonged  to  the 
small  detachment  left  by  Admiral  Keppel  to  aid  Braddock. 

155  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  397,  460;  Croghan  to  Morris,  May  20,  1755,  in  idem, 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  97 

The  service  performed  on  the  march  by  Croghan 
and  his  eight  faithful  Indians,  including  the  two  chiefs, 
Scarroyaddy  and  Monacatootha,  staunch  friends  to  the 
English,  must  not  be  underestimated.  Croghan  fur- 
nished the  messengers  who  kept  open  the  communica- 
tions between  Braddock  and  Burd's  roadcutters  in 
Pennsylvania  as  they  both  moved  westward  into  the 
wilderness.  Croghan  and  the  Indians  were  contin- 
ually at  the  front  and  on  the  flanks  of  the  army  as  it 
marched  westward.  On  June  19,  the  French  captured 
Scarroyaddy  and  his  son  who  were  saved  only  by  the 
refusal  of  the  hostile  Indians  to  allow  them  to  be  killed. 
On  July  6,  during  a  skirmish  with  hostile  Indians,  the 
British  soldiers  by  mistake  fired  on  their  own  Indians, 
killing  the  son  of  Scarroyaddy.  At  times  when  strag- 
glers were  scalped,  Croghan  and  his  Indians  with  vol- 
unteers would  be  sent  out  to  try  to  retaliate.  It  was  not 
until  they  were  within  a  few  miles  of  Fort  DuQuesne 
that  Croghan's  Indians  faltered  in  securing  intelligence. 
Finally,  two  of  them  agreed  to  go  out;  they  came 
within  a  half  mile  of  the  fort  and  brought  back  the 
scalp  of  a  French  officer.  A  party  which  included 
Croghan  and  his  Indians  was  then  sent  out  to  re- 
connoitre.156 

Two  days  later,  on  the  fatal  July  9,  1755,  came  the 
French  attack.  Braddock  was  not  surprised,  as  is  so 
often  stated.  Croghan  and  his  Indians,  Gist,  six 
mounted  Virginians,  the  engineers  led  by  Gordon,  and 
a  detachment  of  three  hundred  men  headed  his  march. 
This  vanguard  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thomas   Gage,   later  commander-in-chief  of   all   the 

399;  Gordon's  Journal,  380;  Orme's  Journal,  314,  340;  Franklin's  Auto- 
biography, Writings  (ed.  Smyth),  1,  400.  Innes  knew  little  of  Indian 
affairs ;  cf.  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  321. 

156  Burd  to  Peters,  June  17,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  VI,  435;  idem,  460; 
Orme's  Journal,  336,  342,  348-352. 


98  CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

British  forces  in  America.  Gordon  first  saw  the 
French  and  Indians  advancing  in  a  body  led  by  Beau- 
jeau  and  dispersing  when  Beaujeau  waved  his  hat. 
A  few  weeks  after  the  battle  Croghan  told  his  friend 
Charles  Swaine  that  he  "had  a  free  sight  of  the  Enemy 
as  they  approached  .  .  .  they  were  about  three 
hundred,  the  French  in  shirts  and  the  Indians  naked 
.  .  .  lead  by  three  French  officers  with  hats  in  their 
hands,  and  with  which  they  gave  a  Signal  for  the 
firing."  157 

No  record  has  been  found  which  tells  of  Croghan's 
conduct  during  the  murderous  battle  which  ensued. 
There  is  a  record,  however,  which  shows  that  in  the 
disgraceful  retreat  which  followed  he  manifested  a 
high  degree  of  courage  and  loyalty  to  his  unfortunate 
commander-in-chief.  Braddock  had  five  horses  shot 
under  him  and  he  was  finally  mortally  wounded.  His 
own  redcoats  fled  so  precipitately  that  Captain  Orme, 
his  aide-de-camp,  could  prevail  on  none  to  tarry  long 
enough  to  carry  off  their  dying  general  -  not  even  when 
he  offered  a  reward  of  sixty  guineas.  Two  Americans, 
Croghan  and  Washington,  helped  to  place  Braddock 
on  horseback  and  later  into  a  wagon;  their  fire  helped 
to  keep  back  the  enemy  as  they  recrossed  the  Monon- 
gahela.  The  faithless  conduct  of  the  British  soldiers 
added  to  the  terrible  defeat  and  his  wounds  caused 
Braddock  to  insist  that  he  be  left  upon  the  field  of 
battle  to  die  like  an  old  Roman.  When  this  was 
denied  him  he  attempted  to  seize  Croghan's  pistols  to 
end  his  life.  Croghan  and  Washington  remained  with 
Braddock  till  midnight  on  July  9,  when  they  were 

157  Swaine  to  Peters,  Aug.  5,  1755,  in  Peters  mss.,  IV,  38;  cf.  Gordon's 
Journal,   387.     Swaine,  Peters,   and   Croghan  were   intimate  friends. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  99 

sent  with  six  light-horse  to  secure  aid  from  Colonel 
Dunbar.158 

With  the  memories  of  the  bloody  defeat  fresh  in  his 
mind  and  still  subject  to  imprisonment  for  debt,  Cro- 
ghan  returned  during  the  late  summer  of  1755  to  his 
home  at  Aughwick.  When  the  causes  for  the  catas- 
trophe were  given,  it  was  charged  that  the  Indian 
traders  and  frontiersmen  had  undermined  the  morale 
of  the  British  soldiers  by  telling  them  if  they  fought 
in  their  accustomed  manner  they  would  certainly  be 
defeated.159  The  failure  of  the  expedition  reacted  on 
Croghan  by  discrediting  him  with  Governor  Morris 
and  his  council.  They  ignored  him  for  months  to 
come,  even  though  his  services  were  sorely  needed. 
When  Croghan  had  some  advice  or  news  which  he  felt 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  governor,  he  wrote  confi- 
dentially to  his  old  friend,  ex-Governor  Hamilton.160 
In  spite  of  these  conditions  Croghan's  temporary 
service  as  an  imperial  official  gave  him  a  greater  feel- 
ing of  responsibility  for  Indian  affairs  and  helped  to 

158  Horace  Walpole  to  Sir  Horace  Mann,  Aug.  28,  1755,  in  Letters  of 
Horace  Walpole  (ed.  Toynbee),  III,  336.  Dinwiddie  to  Halifax,  Oct.  1, 
1755,  in  Va.  Pap.,  1,  Bancroft  Coll.;  Gordon's  Journal,  386;  James  Toby's 
Journal  (ms.  in  the  possession  of  the  Shippen  family).  Croghan  was  prob- 
ably in  error  when  he  wrote  two  years  later  that  "had  we  had  fifty  Indians 
instead  of  eight,  we  might  in  a  great  measure  have  prevented  the  surprise, 
that  day  of  our  unhappy  defeat."- Croghan's  Transactions  with  the  Indians, 
etc. ;  this  statement  is  not  included  in  this  document  as  printed  in  the 
N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  271,  nor  in  Thwaites:  Early  Western  Travels,  1,  88, 
but  it  is  included  in  Sargent:  Braddock's  Expedition,  408,  and  in  the  manu- 
script copies  in  the  Du  Simitiere  Coll.  and  in  Indian  Affairs,  i,  51-52,  Penn 
mss.  The  common  experiences  of  Croghan  and  Gordon  led  to  an  intimate 
friendship  between  these  two  men.  Gordon  soon  developed  an  active 
interest  in  the  West.  He  engaged  with  Croghan  in  land  speculation  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  1766,  he  accompanied  Croghan  to  the  Illinois  country. 

159  Gage  to  Albermarle,  July  24,  1755,  in  Keppel,  Thomas  R. :  Life  of 
Admiral  Keppel,  218. 

160  Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Nov.  12,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  483. 


IOO       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

prepare  him  for  a  permanent  imperial  appointment.161 
The  defeat  of  Braddock  let  loose  upon  the  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  and  Virginia  frontiers  a  fiendish 
swarm  of  savages  which  gave  to  the  Quaker  province 
its  first  taste  of  real  Indian  warfare.  Adam  Hoops,  a 
friend  of  Croghan,  wrote  from  Carlisle  on  November 
3>  r755>  t0  Governor  Morris:  "We,  to  be  sure,  are  in 
as  bad  Circumstances  as  ever  any  poor  Christians  were 
ever  in,  For  the  Cries  of  Widowers,  Widows,  father- 
less and  Motherless  Children,  with  many  others  for 
their  Relations,  are  enough  to  Pierce  the  most  hardest 
of  hearts ;  Likewise  it's  a  very  Sorrowful  specticle  to  see 
those  that  Escaped  with  their  lives  not  a  Mouthful  to 
Eat,  or  Bed  to  lie  on,  or  Cloths  to  Cover  their  Naked- 
ness, or  keep  them  warm,  but  all  they  had  consumed 
into  Ashes."  162 

This  deplorable  condition  in  Pennsylvania  was  due 
to  internal  as  well  as  external  causes.  Quaker 
pacifism,  the  quarrel  of  the  assembly  with  the  propri- 
etors over  the  taxation  of  their  estates  and  with  the 
crown  over  the  issuance  of  paper  money,  and  the  fail- 
ure to  manage  Indian  affairs  properly  were  the  most 
important  internal  causes.  Croghan  wrote  that  because 
of  the  lack  of  funds  little  was  being  done  to  keep 
friendly  Indians  steadfast  and  that  he  was  glad  to  have 
no  part  in  the  short-sighted  Indian  policy  which  was 
being  pursued.163  On  October  31,  1755,  five  western 
leaders  sent  an  appeal  to  Governor  Morris  saying  in 
part:  "We  are  all  in  uproar,  all  in  Disorder,  all  will- 
ing to  do,  and  have  little  in  our  power.  We  have  no 
authority,   no   commissions,   no  officers,   practiced   in 

161  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Sept.  10,  1755,  in  Johnson  mss.,  ii,  212. 

162  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  462. 

163  Croghan  to  Swaine,  Oct.  9,  1755,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  642;  cf.  Peters 
to  Weiser,  Oct.  18,  1755,  Weiser  Corresp.,  1,  58. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  IOI 

War.  .  ."  Trent  wrote  to  Peters  from  Carlisle  on 
February  15,  1756:  ".  .  .  all  the  People  have  left 
their  Houses  betwixt  this  and  the  Mountain,  some  come 
to  Town  and  others  gathering  into  little  Forts;  they 
are  moving  their  Effects  from  Shippensburgh,  every 
one  thinks  of  flying;  unless  the  Government  fall  upon 
some  effectual  Method,  and  that  immediately,  of  secur- 
ing the  Frontiers,  there  will  not  be  one  inhabitant  in 
this  Valley  one  Month  longer.  There  is  a  few  of  us 
endeavour  to  keep  up  the  Spirits  of  the  People."  164 

One  of  these  few  staunch  leaders  in  the  great  crisis 
was  Croghan.  While  people  fled  even  from  Ship- 
pensburg  and  while  John  Harris,  who  lived  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Susquehanna,  was  writing,  "I  have 
this  day  cut  holes  in  my  House,  and  is  determined  to 
hold  out  to  the  last  extremity.  .  .  ,"  Croghan  was 
raising  a  volunteer  company  and  fortifying  himself  at 
his  own  expense  at  Aughwick,  forty  miles  further  west 
than  Harris's  Ferry.  On  October  9,  1755,  he  asked 
Charles  Swaine  of  Shippensburg  for  the  immediate 
loan  of  six  guns  with  some  powder  and  lead,  promising 
to  return  them  as  soon  as  he  received  his  shipment 
from  Maryland.  He  wrote  Johnson  that  he  and  his 
company  were  ready  to  serve  their  King  whenever 
called  upon.  After  his  fort  was  finished  he  wrote  to 
Hamilton :  "I  have  about  40  men  with  me  there,  butt 
how  long  I  shall  be  able  to  keep  itt,  I  realy  can't  tell." 
Doubtless  his  company  was  composed  of  old  employees 
and  associates  in  the  Indian  trade.  Aughwick  became 
a  rallying  place  for  Indians  who  still  espoused  the 
English  cause.  Several  times  it  was  reported  that 
Croghan  and  his  men  had  been  cut  off.  Friendly 
Indians  came  to  warn  him  to  save  his  scalp,  which 

164  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  667 ;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  575. 


102       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

would  be  no  small  prize  to  the  French.  Croghan  and 
his  men,  however,  remained  in  their  little  island  fort- 
ress in  the  wilderness.  Illimitable  woods  encom- 
passed them  and  afforded  an  ideal  lurking  ground  for 
hostile  forces.165 

At  last  when  conditions  reached  the  nadir,  a  peace- 
ful political  revolution  occurred  by  which  the  Quakers 
lost  their  power.  The  colony  now  acted.  An  appro- 
priation of  £60,000  was  made  for  defense  and  the  pro- 
prietors offered  a  land  bounty  of  1,000  acres  to  every 
colonel,  500  acres  to  every  captain,  and  200  acres  to 
every  private  who  should  enlist.  An  offer  of  $350  was 
made  for  the  scalps  of  chiefs  Shingas  and  Captain 
Jacobs  and  the  government  offered  a  bounty  of  $150 
for  the  scalp  of  every  male  Indian  above  ten  years  of 
age  and  $50  for  the  scalp  of  every  Indian  woman.  The 
Board  of  Commissioners,  appointed  by  the  assembly 
to  supervise  the  expenditure  of  funds,  planned  and  had 
built  a  chain  of  forts  guarding  the  passes  of  the  Blue 
Mountains  from  the  Delaware  River  to  the  Maryland 
border.  In  spite  of  all  these  measures,  the  stealthy 
savage,  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night,  fell  upon  the 
inhabitants  at  the  least  suspected  points.  Safety  de- 
pended upon  the  capture  of  Fort  DuQuesne  and  upon 
the  work  of  the  Indian  agent  rather  than  upon  the 
erection  of  innumerable  blockhouses  and  stockades.166 

Most  of  the  Indian  traders  who  had  been  assoc- 
iated with  Croghan  entered  the  provincial  military 
service.  Callender,  Ward,  Smallman,  and  Trent  be- 
came captains  and  Crawford,  Prentice,  and  Alexander 
McKee  became  lieutenants.167     On  December  2,  1755, 

165  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  642,  655,  779;  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  462,  484;  Morris  to 
Dinwiddie,  Nov.  2,  1755,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  xvi,  4. 

1Q6Pa.  Gazette,  Feb.  12  and  Aug.  14,  1756;  Pa.  Arch.,  n,  619;  Pa.  Col. 
Rec,  vi,  504. 

167  Pa.  Arch.,  5th  ser.,  1,  passim. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  103 

the  act  granting  Croghan  and  Trent  ten  years'  relief 
from  their  debts  was  passed.  On  December  18,  Cro- 
ghan was  examined  before  the  council  on  the  defense  of 
the  frontier  and  on  the  same  day  Hamilton  gave  him 
a  captain's  commission.  The  situation  had  become  so 
serious  that  Hamilton  had  been  called  to  the  council 
and  while  Governor  Morris  was  in  the  western  part  of 
the  province  examining  the  defenses,  a  dedimus  had 
been  given  Hamilton,  thereby  practically  giving 
Pennsylvania  two  governors  for  the  time  being.  Ham- 
ilton wrote  Morris  on  December  18:  "I  have  given 
Geo.  Croghan  a  Captain's  Commission;  He  is  to  raise 
the  men  immediately,  and  Superintend  the  building 
over  Susquehanna,  as  I  knew  not  whom  else  to  employ, 
and  upon  Supposition  that  He  is  honest,  no  body  is 
fitter  for  that  Service."168  At  last  Croghan  had 
secured  the  position  for  which  he  had  yearned.  He 
at  once  entered  upon  his  duties  with  great  vigor. 

As  captain,  Croghan  received  7s.  6d.  per  day  and 
was  eligible  for  a  land  bounty  of  500  acres.  He  was 
ordered  to  proceed  across  the  Susquehanna  and  select 
sites  for,  and  erect,  three  stockades.  Each  was  to  be 
fifty  feet  square,  with  blockhouses  on  each  of  two  cor- 
ners and  with  barracks  capable  of  accommodating  fifty 
men.  On  December  17,  200  guns,  300  pounds  powder, 
500  pounds  lead,  2000  flints,  26  brass  kettles,  and  240 
blankets  were  issued  to  him;  on  January  1,  1756,  he 
also  received  1  barrel  powder,  1  drum,  and  7  casks  of 
nails.  After  the  forts  had  been  built  the  men  enlisted 
for  their  defense,  Croghan  was  given  command  of 
his  own  stockade  at  Aughwick.  This  was  strengthened 
and  named  Fort  Shirley.  For  its  garrison  of  75  men 
Pennsylvania    furnished    only    30    guns.     Additional 

168  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  670;  Pa.  Arch.,  n,  537;  Morris  to  Gov.  Hardy,  July 
5,  1756,  in  idem,  689. 


104       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

guns  of  a  better  grade,  tools,  and  other  supplies  were 
furnished  by  Croghan  himself.  On  June  i,  1756,  Cro- 
ghan  was  paid  £200  for  the  equipment  which  he  had 
furnished  and  for  the  work  which  he  had  done  on 
Fort  Shirley  before  the  government  assumed  control 
over  it.169 

Croghan  was  stationed  at  Fort  Shirley  during  the 
early  part  of  1756.  Here  he  had  charge  of  routine 
garrison  duty.  Patrols  were  sent  out  each  day  to 
scour  the  woods;  spies  as  well  as  friendly  Indians 
visited  him.  When  Washington,  who  was  in  charge 
of  the  defense  of  Virginia's  frontier,  wished  three 
trusty  Indian  messengers  to  send  to  the  Ohio  and  Wa- 
bash Indians,  Croghan  provided  them.  Morris  or- 
dered Croghan  to  secure  all  possible  intelligence  of 
the  movements  and  designs  of  the  French  and  Indians. 
Croghan  sent  "Delaware  Jo"  to  the  Ohio.  This  Indian 
reported  that  all  of  the  Ohio  tribes  had  taken  up  the 
hatchet  and  that  a  large  number  of  Indians  were 
gathered  at  Kittanning  and  had  with  them  more  than 
one  hundred  prisoners  from  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia. This  information  resulted  in  Armstrong's 
daring  and  successful  expedition.  It  started  out  from 
Fort  Shirley  and  attacked  Kittanning  in  1756.  Morris, 
however,  who  seems  never  to  have  had  a  high  estimate 
of  Croghan,  wrote  that  he  "never  procured  me  any 
[intelligence]  that  was  very  material.     .     ."  17° 

Croghan  was  called  away  from  Fort  Shirley  for  a 
short  time  in  January,  1756,  to  assist  in  the  Indian  con- 
ferences  at    Harris's    Ferry   and    Carlisle.     But   one 

169 Trent  to  Washington,  Jan.  21,  1756,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to  Wash- 
ington, 1,  190;  Orders  to  Croghan,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  536;  idem,  $66, 
623,  633;  Pa.  Arch.,  2nd  ser.,  11,  695-696;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  iv,  620. 

170  Pa.  Gazette,  Feb.  19,  March  18,  and  Apr.  1,  1756;  Morris  to  Hardy, 
July  5,  1756,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  690;  idem,  571 ;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  781. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  1 05 

Seneca  and  one  Mohawk  Indian  came  to  Harris's 
Ferry.  When  but  seven  Indians  came  to  Carlisle, 
where  were  present  Governor  Morris,  ex-Governor 
Hamilton,  two  members  of  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners and  Weiser,  and  when  Croghan  failed  to  appear 
until  two  days  before  the  treaty  was  to  open,  he  was 
asked  to  explain.  He  replied  that  he  had  been  busy 
recruiting  men  and  building  forts  and  that  the  Indians 
were  out  hunting.  The  attempt  to  enlist  the  aid  of 
the  upper  Susquehanna  Indians  proved  a  failure. 
The  contrast  between  these  conferences  and  the  con- 
ferences held  a  few  years  before  show  to  what  extent 
the  tide  had  turned  against  the  English.171 

After  Croghan  returned  from  Carlisle,  news  of  the 
preparations  at  Fort  DuQuesne  by  the  French  and 
Indians  to  attack  his  fort  on  about  March  1,  1756, 
was  brought  to  him  by  his  Indian  friends.  Captain 
Coulon  de  Villiers,  anxious  to  avenge  the  death  of  his 
brother  Jumonville,  set  out  in  the  spring  of  1756  to 
attack  Croghan's  fort,  but  illness  forced  him  to  return. 
Thinking  that  Croghan  was  still  at  Fort  Shirley,  he 
set  out  again  on  July  13  with  fifty-five  men,  but  lost 
his  way  and  came  upon  Fort  Granville  instead.  This 
he  attacked  and  destroyed.  The  destruction  of  Fort 
Granville,  located  east  of  Fort  Shirley,  together  with 
the  weakness  of  the  latter  due  to  its  poor  water  supply, 
caused  Fort  Shirley  to  be  abandoned  in  the  fall  of 
I756-1" 

171  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  538;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vi,  753,  779-783;  idem,  vn,  1-7;  Bd.  of 
Tr.  Pap.,  Proprieties,  xix.  The  account  sent  to  England  contains  some 
material  omitted  in  the  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records. 

172  Croghan  to  Burd,  Feb.  5,  1756,  in  Shippen  Corresp.,  11,  25  ;  Villiers 
du  Terrage:  Les  demurs  Annees  de  la  Louisiane  Francaise,  85-87;  Bossu, 
N.:  Nouveaux  Voyages  aux  Indes  Occidentales,  etc.,  1,  162;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs., 
X,  480;  Col.  Armstrong  to  Morris,  Aug.  20,  1756,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  231; 
idem,  242,  278. 


106       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Croghan  had  left  Fort  Shirley  before  its  abandon- 
ment and  never  returned  to  Aughwick  to  reside.  He 
held  his  captain's  commission  but  about  three  months, 
resigning  it  in  March,  1756.  On  March  15,  he  was 
paid  in  full  for  his  outlays  while  he  was  captain.  His 
successor,  Captain  Mercer,  at  once  had  difficulty  in 
keeping  his  company  filled.  Croghan  had  raised  men 
for  the  defense  of  the  frontier  and  erected  forts  in  a 
very  expeditious  manner,  but  not  so  frugally  as  the 
commissioners  thought  he  might  have  done.  Disputes 
over  accounts  followed  and  Croghan,  who  felt  himself 
unjustly  treated  and  unappreciated,  resigned.  In 
June,  1756,  he  informed  Morris  that  he  had  not  re- 
ceived pay  upon  a  warrant  from  Braddock  and  asked 
him  for  a  recommendation  to  the  new  commander-in- 
chief,  General  Shirley.  This  Morris  gave  to  him  and 
he  left  for  Albany.  Here  he  soon  entered  the  imperial 
service  under  Sir  William  Johnson.173 

From  the  very  beginning  of  Croghan's  official  rela- 
tions to  Pennsylvania  in  1747  until  their  end  in  1756, 
he  never  possessed  the  absolute  confidence  of  most  of 
the  colonial  officials.  Various  illustrations  of  their 
lack  of  confidence  have  been  given  in  this  chapter. 
During  the  years  1754  to  1756  he  was  charged  with 
perfidious  conduct  on  three  different  occasions.  He 
was  suspected  of  participating  in  the  illicit  trade 
whereby  the  French  at  Fort  DuQuesne  received  not 
only  guns,  powder,  and  lead,  but  also  intelligence  of 
the  movements  of  the  English.  The  English  traders 
at  Aughwick  and  along  Raystown  Creek  were  so  active 
in  this  trade  that  Braddock  took  measures  to  have  it 
stopped.174 

173  Shippen  to  Burd,  Mar.  24,  1756,  in  Shippen  Corresp.,  n,  35 ;  Votes  of 
the  Assembly,  iv,  618,  620;  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  623,  690. 

174  Braddock  to  Morris,  May  4,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  II,  299. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  107 

Serious  charges  were  also  brought  against  Croghan 
because  of  his  relation  to  the  letters  written  by  Captain 
Stobo,  an  English  hostage  at  Fort  DuQuesne.  Stobo, 
at  the  risk  of  his  life,  wrote  two  letters  to  Colonel 
Innes,  a  commander  of  the  Virginia  forces;  in  one  he 
enclosed  a  plan  of  Fort  DuQuesne.  These  letters  he 
succeeded  in  sending  with  two  Indians  who  were  going 
to  Aughwick  in  August,  1754.  Croghan,  probably  not 
appreciating  their  significance,  opened  the  letters  and 
sent  copies  to  Hamilton.  As  a  result,  the  French 
learned  about  it  and  Stobo  suffered  close  confinement. 
The  opening  of  Stobo's  letters  prompted  Governor 
Sharpe  of  Maryland  to  write  to  Morris  and  suggest 
that  Croghan  be  placed  under  surveillance.  Sharpe 
accused  Croghan  of  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  of  har- 
boring at  Aughwick  other  Catholics  who  were  in  com- 
munication with  the  French,  and  of  persuading  the 
Indians  to  keep  away  from  the  camp  at  Will's  Creek. 
Morris  replied  that  he  was  informed  that  Croghan  was 
not  a  Catholic,  that  Croghan  had  himself  warned  the 
authorities  against  illicit  traders  and  regretted  his  in- 
discretion in  opening  Stobo's  letters.  As  to  the  other 
charges,  Morris  ordered  Weiser  to  investigate  them 
quietly  and  wrote  Sharpe :  "...  I  hope  they  will 
not  turn  out  to  be  anything  very  Material,  or  that 
will  effect  his  faithfulness  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him, 
which  at  this  time  is  of  Great  importance.  .  ." 
These  secret  attacks  on  Croghan's  character  were 
doubtless  the  cause  of  some  of  his  troubles  at  Augh- 
wick and  Morris's  hesitation  to  call  upon  him  to  help 
defend  the  frontier  in  1755.175 

175  Croghan  to  Hamilton,  Aug.  16  and  Aug.  30,  1754,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
vi,  140,  160;  Innes  to  Washington,  Sept.  27,  1754,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to 
Washington,  1,  49;  Corresp.  of  Gov.  Sharpe,  in  Md.  Archives,  1888,  153; 
Morris  to  Sharpe,  Jan.  7,  1755,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  11,  113;  cf.  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  Vi, 


108       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

The  most  serious  accusations  against  Croghan,  how- 
ever, were  associated  with  the  famous  "Filius  Gallicae" 
letters  to  the  Due  de  Mirepoix,  the  French  ambassador 
to  England  from  1749  to  1755.  They  were  written  by 
someone  in  America  in  January  and  March,  1756,  and 
were  sent  by  way  of  Londonderry,  London,  and  Am- 
sterdam. They  were  intercepted  in  Ireland  and  Eng- 
land. The  writer  stated  that  he  was  French  by  birth, 
a  Roman  Catholic,  and  a  trusted  British  officer  of  high 
rank,  but  devoted  to  France;  and  that  there  were  in 
Pennsylvania  many  discontented  German  and  Irish 
Catholics  among  whom  he  could  raise  from  10,000  to 
15,000  troops.  To  be  able  to  do  this,  he  asked  for 
money,  French  passports,  arms,  and  military  commis- 
sions. He  gave  such  accurate  intelligence  of  the  Eng- 
lish plans  that  even  the  British  officials  in  London  were 
enlightened  by  the  letters.176 

To  the  statesmen  and  military  leaders  who  were 
responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  the  British  Empire 
at  the  time  when  report  after  report  came  from 
America  telling  of  reverses  and  inefficiency,  these 
letters  seemed  of  vast  importance.  Morris  wrote  to 
Governor  Hardy  of  New  York:  "I  am  with  you  in 
opinion  that  the  French,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
have  intelligence  of  every  thing  we  do,  and  that  we 
have  many  Spyes  amongst  us.  .  ." 177  The  Earl  of 
Halifax,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  wrote  to 

503.  As  printed,  this  letter  is  erroneously  headed,  "Gov.  Hamilton  to  Gov. 
Sharpe",  and  dated  1754.  Documents  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives  and  the 
Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records  for  the  period  before  1752  are  frequently- 
dated  in  accordance  with  the  ecclesiastical  year  which  began  on  March  25. 

176  These  letters  with  the  correspondence  relating  to  them  are  found 
in  C.  O.,  46.  They  are  printed  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Am.  Hist. 
Assyn,  1896,  1,  660-703.  Cf.  Hist  mss.  Commission  of  Gt.  Br.,  Fourteenth 
Report,  Appendix  x,  mss.  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  u,  7. 

177  Morris  to  Hardy,  July  5,  1756,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  u,  689;  idem,  690,  694; 
Loudoun  to  Denny,  Jan.  5,  1757,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  323. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  109 

Hardy :  "It  may  be  nothing.  -  It  may  be  an  Artifice  to 
draw  a  little  money  from  France.  .  .  But  on  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  the  highest  conse- 
quence. .  ."  So  important  were  these  letters  con- 
sidered that  the  highest  civil  and  military  officials  in 
America  were  ordered  to  investigate  the  matter  in 
person  with  the  utmost  secrecy. 

The  author,  however,  was  never  discovered.  The 
Indian  traders  and  Catholics  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland  were  especially  suspected.  Morris  had 
Peters  send  to  Hardy  specimens  of  the  handwriting  of 
all  the  leading  Indian  traders  of  Pennsylvania.  Ly- 
dius,  Joncourt,  a  popish  priest,  a  Jesuit  of  Phila- 
delphia, Washington,  and  Croghan  were  mentioned  as 
possible  authors.  Henry  Fox,  Secretary  of  State, 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  on  April  20,  1756: 
"One  Captain  George  Croghan,  an  Intriguing,  Dis- 
affected Person,  an  Indian  Trader,  in  Pennsylvania, 
was  very  much  suspected.  .  ."  Fox  ordered  Col- 
onel Webb,  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in 
America  at  the  time,  to  make  particular  inquiry  in 
regard  to  Croghan  and  if  he  found  the  suspicion  justi- 
fied, to  send  Croghan  and  all  his  accomplices  with  the 
evidence  against  them  to  England.  John  Pownall, 
Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  appears  to  have  been 
responsible  for  the  attention  centered  on  Croghan. 

The  authorship  as  well  as  an  estimate  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  "Filius  Gallicae"  letters  remains  one  of 
the  unsolved  problems  of  history.178  It  is  not  prob- 
able that  Croghan  was  the  author.  The  letters  were 
not  in  his  handwriting.  Hardy  and  Morris  did  not 
consider  the  suspicions  of  Croghan  justified.    Johnson, 

178  Professor  Archer  B.  Hulbert  of  Colorado  College,  who  has  been 
interested  in  this  problem,  courteously  sent  to  the  writer  some  transcripts 
from  the  Public  Record  Office  which  bear  upon  it. 


I IO       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  whom  the  records  of  the  case  had  been  opened, 
revealed  his  opinion  when  he  appointed  Croghan  as 
his  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  All  of 
the  relations  which  Croghan  had  had  with  the  French 
for  over  a  decade  would  lead  him  to  a  policy  of  revenge 
and  not  one  of  cooperation  with  them.  A  study  of 
Croghan's  character  as  revealed  by  his  entire  life  would 
not  lead  one  to  suspect  him  of  playing  the  part  of  a 
traitor. 

Because  of  the  very  secret  nature  of  the  investiga- 
tion few  people  ever  knew  that  Croghan  was  suspected 
of  treachery;  he,  himself,  may  never  have  been  aware 
of  it.  That  he  had  rivals  and  enemies  whose  reports 
caused  English  officials  to  know  him  as  an  intriguing, 
discontented  man,  unworthy  of  trust,  is  evident;  this 
factor  was  probably  one  cause  of  many  of  his  troubles. 
One  direct  effect  of  the  shadow  cast  over  his  reputa- 
tion can  be  traced;  the  Earl  of  Loudoun  declined 
Croghan's  offer  to  recruit  a  company  of  fearless  and 
skilled  white  woodsmen  similar  to  the  famous  rangers 
of  Major  Robert  Rogers  and  to  enter  Loudoun's  service 
at  their  head.  Instead,  Loudoun  suggested  to  Johnson 
that  Croghan's  services  be  utilized  as  an  Indian  agent.179 

The  mistrust  displayed  towards  Croghan  by  colonial 
and  imperial  officials  was  due  to  various  factors.     He 

179  Loudoun  to  Johnson,  Sept.  19,  1756,  in  Johnson  mss.,  iv,  120.  This 
suspicion  of  Croghan  was  not,  as  Kingsford  states  {History  of  Canada,  IV, 
23),  a  cause  of  his  resigning  as  captain.  Kingsford  is  led  to  make  this 
statement  by  erroneously  placing  the  date  of  Croghan's  resignation  in  July 
instead  of  in  March,  1756.  The  only  persons  who  were  charged  to  investi- 
gate in  America  the  authorship  of  the  letters  were  the  Earl  of  Loudoun, 
Governor  Hardy,  and  Colonel  Webb.  Loudoun  did  not  arrive  in  America 
until  July  23,  1756.  The  letters  to  Hardy  were  entrusted  to  Webb,  who 
did  not  arrive  in  America  until  June  7,  1756.  The  letters  first  came  to  the 
notice  of  Halifax  in  England  during  March,  1756.  Before  any  influence 
radiating  from  these  officials  could  affect  Croghan  beyond  the  Susquehanna, 
he  had  already  resigned  his  commission. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  1 1 1 

was  handicapped  as  well  as  aided  by  certain  traits  in 
his  character.  He  was  a  born  diplomat  and  put  into 
practice  Talleyrand's  famous  dictum  that  language  is 
made  to  conceal  thoughts  and  not  to  reveal  them. 
This  made  him  a  wily  and  successful  Indian  agent,  but 
it  also  engendered  distrust.  John  Connolly,  who  knew 
him  well,  wrote  to  Washington:  "You  must  well 
know  how  specious  He  is.  .  .  As  He  is  specious 
where  unknown  He  may  impose  and  carry  points. 
.  ." 180  Levi  A.  Levy  wrote  confidentially  of  Cro- 
ghan:  ".  .  .  he  is  such  an  Artful  person,  I  make 
no  doubt  he  will  take  some  person  in,  in  Virginia."  181 
Croghan's  intimate  friend,  George  Morgan,  in  a  letter 
to  his  wife,  characterized  Croghan  as  follows:  "He 
can  appear  highly  pleased  when  most  chagrined  and 
show  the  greatest  indifference  when  most  pleased. 
Notwithstanding  my  warm  temper,  I  know  you  would 
rather  have  me  as  I  am  than  to  practice  such  deceit."  182 
A  second  cause  of  distrust  was  the  fact  that  Croghan 
was  almost  always  financially  interested  in  his  missions. 
In  these  two  respects  he  was  in  marked  contrast  to 
Conrad  Weiser  and  Christian  Frederick  Post.  They 
had  almost  no  financial  interest  in  their  missions  and 
instead  of  the  craft  of  the  diplomat,  they  possessed  the 
guileless  simplicity  of  the  ascetic  and  the  missionary. 
Croghan's  frequent  disregard  of  official  instructions, 
especially  concerning  expenditures,  made  him  more 
efficient,  though  less  trusted  as  an  Indian  agent.  To 
eastern  officials  he  seemed  profuse  in  his  gifts  to  the 
Indians.  His  lack  of  respect  for  legal  formalities,  so 
typical  of  the  frontier,  is  illustrated  by  the  following 

180  Connolly  to  Washington,  June  7,  1774,  in  Hamilton:    Letters  to  Wash- 
ington, v,  8. 

181  Levi  A.  Levy  to  M.  Gratz,  June  23,  1774,  in  McAllister  Coll. 

182  Morgan  to  Mary  Morgan,  July  8,  1766,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  316. 


1 12       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

characterization  in  a  business  memorandum:  "He  has 
Only  Acted  according  to  his  Usual  practice,  Which  is 
that  of  doing  what  He  has  no  right  to  do."  183 

The  conditions  under  which  he  carried  on  his  official 
duties  were  also  conducive  to  a  lack  of  trust  in  him. 
Eastern  officials  usually  had  no  other  alternative  but 
to  employ  him  or  some  other  Indian  trader  for  their 
missions  to  the  West  and  after  he  entered  the  wilder- 
ness they  had  no  satisfactory  means  of  ascertaining 
whether  he  was  properly  carrying  out  their  instruc- 
tions. Finally,  the  machinations  of  rival  traders,  the 
natural  prejudice  and  contempt  of  many  eastern  aristo- 
crats and  English  military  officials  for  a  frontiersman, 
together  with  the  opposition  of  the  dominant  faction 
in  Pennsylvania  to  an  aggressive  military  policy  which 
Croghan  and  most  other  Episcopalians  supported, 
helped  to  arouse  and  circulate  attacks  on  his  conduct 
and  character.  Though  many  of  these  attacks  were 
unjust,  Croghan  did  not  become  embittered  thereby. 

"Were  there  nothing  at  Stake  between  the  Crowns 
of  Great  Britain  and  France,  but  the  Lands  on  that 
Part  of  the  Ohio  included  in  this  Map,  we  may  reckon 
it  as  great  a  Prize  as  has  ever  been  contended  for,  be- 
tween two  Nations.  .  ."  wrote  Lewis  Evans  in 
1755.184  It  was  during  the  period  immediately  follow- 
ing 1747  that  these  two  nations  first  fully  appreciated 
the  importance  of  this  great  valley.  Few  Englishmen 
did  more  than  Croghan  to  bring  the  English  to  realize 
its  great  potential  value.  One  of  the  most  important 
causes  of  the  Seven  Years  War  between  England  and 
France  was  their  rivalry  for  its  control. 

Few  Englishmen  had  more  at  stake  in  this  struggle 

183  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  11,  15. 

is*  Evans:    Analysis  of  a  Map  of  the  Middle  British  Colonies,  etc.,  31. 


THE  FRENCH  ADVANCE  ON  THE  OHIO  1 1 3 

than  had  Croghan.  Loyalty  to  his  King  as  well  as  his 
own  vital  material  interests  caused  him  to  put  forth 
his  best  efforts  for  almost  a  decade  to  help  stem  the 
rising  French  tide.  He  was  always  present  at  the 
places  where  the  struggle  was  most  critical,  rendering 
daring  and  efficient  service.  In  times  of  crises  men 
looked  to  him  for  counsel  and  guidance.  In  trying  to 
unite  in  support  of  an  aggressive  western  policy  the  col- 
onists living  near  the  seaboard  and  those  living  near  the 
frontier,  with  their  widely  divergent  attitude  towards 
Indian  affairs  and  the  West,  Croghan  suffered  many 
unpleasant  experiences.  The  official  relations  which 
Croghan  had  had  with  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia 
brought  him  certain  advantages :  it  increased  his  pres- 
tige among  the  Indians  and  for  a  time  this  enabled  him 
to  increase  his  trade;  it  helped  him  to  keep  out  of  a 
debtor's  prison ;  it  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  leaders  in  the  east;  and  finally,  the 
experience  which  he  had  gained  as  a  provincial  Indian 
agent  and  as  a  temporary  imperial  official  under  Brad- 
dock  prepared  him  for  a  wider  field  of  service.  He 
soon  developed  a  longing  to  enter  permanently  the 
imperial  service. 


Deputy  Superintendent:  Turning  the  Tide 
of  French  Aggression,  175 6- 1758 

Before  1755,  the  British  government  had  left  the 
management  of  Indian  affairs  almost  wholly  to  the 
individual  colonies.  This  policy  was  not  discarded  in 
order  to  lessen  the  powers  of  local  self-government  or 
to  increase  the  authority  of  imperial  officials.  The 
statesmen  who  were  guiding  the  destiny  of  the  British 
Empire  during  this  critical  period  did  not  even  have  in 
mind  a  well-matured  plan  when  they  took  the  manage- 
ment of  Indian  affairs  out  of  the  hands  of  provincial 
officials  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  a  new  group  of 
imperial  officials.  It  was  the  very  pressing  immediate 
military  necessity  "to  regain  the  Confidence,  and  com- 
bine the  Force  of  the  Savages  against  a  then  powerful 
Enemy"  in  a  great  conflict  that  caused  this  change  to 
be  made.185  To  understand  Indian  affairs  in  the  Eng- 
lish colonies  from  1755  to  1775  one  must  bear  in  mind 
that  during  the  French  and  Indian  War  the  Indian 
department  was  made  an  adjunct  to  the  military  depart- 
ment and  that  after  this  war  was  over,  in  spite  of  all 
efforts,  the  Indian  department  was  never  able  to  free 
itself  from  this  control. 

Indian  affairs  had  been  managed  by  the  individual 
colonies  for  more  than  a  century.  Under  their  various 
policies  the  natives  had  been  continually  robbed  of 
their  land  and  cheated  in  trade  until  many  who  had 

«s  Hillsborough  to  Gage,  Apr.  15,  1768,  in  C.  O.,  5:86;  Carter,  C.  E., 
"The  Military  Office  in  America,  i7SS-l77S>"  in  Am-  Hist.  Rev.,  xxvm,  475*1". 


1 1 6       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

been  friends  of  the  whites,  became  their  enemies. 
Many  bloody  Indian  conflicts  resulted.  Moreover,  to 
the  detriment  of  the  general  welfare,  intercolonial 
rivalries  and  jealousies  found  expression  in  Indian 
affairs.  In  times  of  peace,  Pennsylvania  traders  were 
glad  to  see  the  Ohio  Indians  suspicious  of  the  designs 
of  the  Virginians,  and  Virginians  trading  with  the 
Cherokees  and  Catawbas  were  the  bitter  rivals  of  the 
Carolina  traders.  In  times  of  war,  Cherokees  and 
Catawbas  went  into  the  service  of  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, or  Virginia.  They  sold  their  services  to  the 
highest  bidder,  sometimes  securing  payment  from  two 
or  more  colonies  for  the  same  service;  to  secure  scalp 
bounties  in  plenty  they  would  show  a  scalp  in  one 
colony,  secure  a  bounty  there,  and  then  carry  the  scalp 
to  another  colony  and  secure  a  second  bounty.186  Those 
statesmen  who  did  not  discern  the  irrepressible  conflict 
between  the  red  man  and  the  white  man,  thought  that 
these  evils  could  be  eliminated  by  an  efficient  imperial 
control ;  wiser  men  felt  that  such  control  would  miti- 
gate these  evils.187 

New  York  had  attempted  to  bring  about  coopera- 
tion in  Indian  affairs  among  the  various  colonies,  but 
had  failed.  In  July,  1754,  the  Congress  of  Albany  had 
unanimously  agreed  that  Indian  affairs  should  be  con- 
trolled and  financed  by  the  proposed  central  govern- 
ment. Imperial  management  of  Indian  affairs  was 
achieved,  however,  not  by  cooperative  agreement,  but 
by  royal  instructions  emanating  from  the  ministry  in 
London.  On  August  9,  1754,  the  Board  of  Trade  drew 
up  a  "Plan  of  General  Concert"  for  defense.     This 

186  Edmund  Atkin  to  Gov.  Sharpe  of  Md.,  June  12,  1757,  in  Pa.  Arch., 
in,  183;  idem,  175,  197,  268. 

187  Gov.  Hamilton  to  Gov.  Dinwiddie,  Aug.  2,  1753,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
v,  632. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 1 7 

provided  that  "the  sole  direction  of  Indian  Affairs  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  some  one  single  person,  Com- 
mander-in-chief ...  of  all  Your  Majesties'  Forts 
and  Garrisons  in  North  America  and  of  all  Forces 
raised  therein  or  sent  thither,  and  likewise  Commissary- 
General  for  Indian  Affairs."  188  On  October  29,  the 
Board  recommended  that  William  Johnson  be  ap- 
pointed Colonel  of  the  Six  Nations  and  that  all  imper- 
ial presents  for  these  tribes  be  distributed  through  him. 
Instructions  to  Braddock,  dated  November  25,  1754, 
directed  him  to  cultivate  a  policy  of  friendship  and 
alliance  with  the  Indians;  to  appoint  someone  to  super- 
intend the  affairs  of  the  southern  Indians  and  to  watch 
that  presents  be  fairly  and  economically  distributed. 

After  Braddock  arrived  in  America,  he  gave  John- 
son a  commission  as  "Superintendent  of  the  Affairs  of 
the  Six  Nations,  their  Allies  and  Dependents"  and  a 
fund  of  £2,000  sterling  for  presents.  Later,  on  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1756,  Johnson  received  from  George  II  a 
royal  commission  as  "Colonel  of  our  Faithful  Subjects, 
and  Allies,  the  Six  united  Nations  of  Indians  and  their 
Confederates,  in  the  Northern  Parts  of  North  Amer- 
ica" and  "Sole  Agent  and  Superintendent  of  the  said 
Indians  and  their  Affairs  .  .  ."  His  salary  was 
fixed  at  £600  sterling  per  year  to  be  paid  out  of  military 
funds  in  the  hands  of  the  commander-in-chief.  The 
latter's  orders  were  to  be  observed  and  followed  by 
Johnson  according  to  the  rules  and  discipline  of  war.189 
In  a  similar  manner,  Edmund  Atkin  was  appointed 

188  Representation  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Aug.  9,  1754,  in  N.Y.  Col. 
Docs.,  vi,  901 ;  idem,  919,  961.  During  the  period  under  consideration,  the 
most  important  commanders-in-chief  were  the  following:  Braddock,  Nov., 
I754_July>  1755 ;  Loudoun,  March,  1756-1757;  Abercromby,  1757-Sept.,  1758; 
Amherst,  1758-Nov.,   1763;   and  Gage,  1763-1772. 

189  Royal  Commission  to  Johnson,  Feb.  16,  1756,  in  C.  O.,  324:  38,  f.  445. 


1 1 8       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Superintendent  of  the  Southern  Indians.  Atkin  was 
succeeded  in  1763  by  John  Stuart.  Stuart  held  this 
office  until  it  disappeared  during  the  American  Rev- 
olution. In  the  Northern  District,  Sir  William  John- 
son was  superintendent  for  twenty  years.  After  his 
death  in  1774,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  Guy 
Johnson.  Unlike  the  Southern  District,  the  Northern 
District  did  not  disappear  as  an  administrative  unit 
during  the  Revolution,  but  thereafter  it  was  confined 
to  Canada. 

The  Northern  District  was  always  considered  to  be 
the  more  important.  Johnson  recommended  that  the 
division  of  presents  for  the  two  districts  be  in  the  ratio 
of  two  to  one.  Roughly  speaking,  the  districts  were 
bounded  by  the  Potomac  and  Ohio  rivers.  The 
Board  of  Trade,  in  1764,  considered  making  the  Ohio 
River  the  line  of  division,  but  did  not  do  so  because 
northern  tribes  exercised  jurisdiction  and  had  claims 
south  of  the  Ohio.  Division  was  therefore  indicated 
by  the  enumeration  of  tribes.  After  the  Illinois  coun- 
try was  occupied  in  1765,  both  Johnson  and  Stuart 
desired  to  have  it  included  in  their  district.  It  was 
made  part  of  the  Northern  District.190 

Much  of  the  prestige  of  the  Northern  District  and 
of  the  entire  Indian  department  was  due  to  the  ability 
and  influence  of  Johnson.  He  was  born  in  Ireland  of 
a  good  family  and  came  to  New  York  in  1738.  His 
uncle,  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Warren,  had  extensive  lands 
on  the  Mohawk  and  young  Johnson  was  given  charge 
of  them.  Here  he  soon  acquired  a  vast  estate  for  him- 
self. On  it  he  erected  a  fortified  mansion,  Johnson 
Hall,  where  he  lived  like  a  semi-feudal  lord.     Here 

190  Johnson  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  Sept.  10,  1756,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn, 
128;  Board  of  Trade  to  Johnson,  July  io,  1764,  in  idem,  635;  ///.  Hist.  Coll., 
X,  464. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       119 

he  entertained  his  numerous  friends,  both  white  and 
red.  His  fair  dealing,  his  genial  character,  and  his 
ability  to  adapt  himself  to  their  ways,  soon  gave  him 
vast  influence  over  his  neighbors,  the  powerful  Iro- 
quois. After  the  death  of  his  wife  he  selected  a  young 
Mohawk  squaw,  Molly  Brant,  to  preside  over  his 
household. 

The  year  1755  saw  Braddock  defeated  by  the  French, 
but  it  also  saw  General  Johnson  defeat  the  French 
army  under  Baron  Dieskau  near  Crown  Point  and 
capture  Dieskau,  himself.  For  this  victory,  King 
George  II  created  Johnson  a  baronet  and  Parliament 
voted  him  £5,000.  The  part  he  played  in  the  capture 
of  Fort  Niagara  further  increased  his  military  reputa- 
tion. He  was  equally  at  ease  in  the  mansion  of  a  royal 
governor  and  in  the  wigwam  of  an  Indian  brave.  His 
remarkable  success  in  Indian  affairs  was  largely  due 
to  the  fact  that,  unlike  nearly  all  European  military 
officers,  he  did  not  look  upon  the  Indians  in  the  spirit 
manifested  in  the  following  quotation  from  Dieskau: 
"They  drive  us  crazy  from  morning  till  night.  There 
is  no  end  to  their  demands.  They  have  already  eaten 
five  oxen  and  as  many  hogs,  without  counting  the  kegs 
of  brandy  they  have  drunk.  In  short,  one  needs  the 
patience  of  an  angel  to  get  on  with  these  devils;  and 
yet  one  must  always  force  himself  to  seem  pleased  with 
them."  191 

Such  feelings  on  the  part  of  the  military  officials 
tended  to  cause  them  to  underestimate  the  value  of  the 
services  of  those  who  were  given  charge  of  Indian 
affairs.  Atkin,  for  example,  came  to  New  York  on 
October  6,  1756,  in  order  to  secure  his  commission  and 

191  Parkman,  Francis:  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  1,  90-93;  Stone,  William 
L.:  Life  and  Times  of  Sir  William  Johnson;  Parkman:  Montcalm  and 
Wolfe,  1,  297. 


120       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

instructions  from  the  new  commander-in-chief,  Lord 
Loudoun.  After  waiting  for  weeks,  he  was  informed 
that  Loudoun  had  set  out  for  Boston  on  January  10, 
1757.  Atkin  followed  him,  but  Loudoun  returned  to 
New  York  without  issuing  the  necessary  documents. 
Atkin  followed  him  back  to  New  York.  Here  Atkin 
reported  home  on  March  1 :  "So  after  traveling  since 
my  first  Arrival  here  by  Land  and  Water  above  900 
Miles,  through  Severest  Frosts  and  Snow  and  the  worst 
of  Roads,  behold  here  I  am  again  just  where  I  was  the 
6th  of  October;  and  Still  expect  not  to  receive  my  Dis- 
patches till  I  reach  Philadelphia  for  which  place  his 
Lordship  will  set  out.  .  .  And  I  shall  accompany 
him."  192 

Control  over  the  purse  strings  of  the  Indian  depart- 
ment by  others,  was  its  chief  handicap  in  rendering 
efficient  service  and  in  achieving  an  independent  posi- 
tion. No  sooner  was  Atkin  appointed  than  he  begged 
the  Board  of  Trade  that  he  be  not  sent  empty-handed 
to  the  Indian  nations.  When  imperial  funds  were  lack- 
ing he  fell  back  upon  contributions  by  the  colonies. 
Virginia  at  first  supported  him  loyally,  but  after  a  little 
more  than  a  year  had  elapsed,  Governor  Dinwiddie 
wrote  to  Washington  on  October  19,  1757:  "That 
Gent  has  rendered  a  monstrous  Acco't  of  Expenses, 
which  is  laid  before  the  Council  to  Examine." 193 
Johnson's  experience  was  not  so  trying.  In  two  years 
he  had  secured  and  spent  £19,619  9s.  i^d.194  But  he, 
too,  wrote  home:  "I  am  extremely  concerned  that  the 
great   expense   which    this    Service   hath    occasioned, 

192  Atkin  to  Board  of  Trade,  Mar.  i,  1757,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations 
General,  xv. 

193  Dinwiddie  Pap.,  Va.  Hist.  Coll.,  iv,  707. 

194  Johnson's  Report  on  Indian  Expenditures,  March  30,  1755  to  October 
12,  1756,  in  C.  O.,  5:  1067. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       121 

should  not  have  produced  more  favourable  Effects. 
.  .  .  If  your  Lordships  should  be  of  Opinion  that 
.  .  .  the  Advantages  of  this  Service  will  not  be 
adequate  to  the  Expense  ...  I  shall  ...  be 
ready  and  willing  to  resign  my  Commission.  .  ."  195 
At  times,  the  Indian  officials  had  to  rely  upon  charity 
or  their  own  private  purses  to  carry  on  government 
business.  Such  imperial  funds  as  were  received  had 
to  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  commander-in-chief 
or  subordinate  military  officials. 

It  was  under  such  conditions,  in  1756,  the  second 
year  of  Johnson's  superintendency,  that  George  Cro- 
ghan  was  appointed  Deputy  Superintendent  in  the 
Northern  District.  Until  1760,  Johnson  had  no  other 
deputy,  but  after  the  surrender  of  Canada  his  staff  was 
increased  by  the  appointment  of  Daniel  Claus  in  1760, 
Guy  Johnson  in  1762,  and  Major  Joseph  Gorham  in 
1767.  Each  drew  a  salary  of  £200  sterling.  Of  these 
four  deputy  superintendents,  Croghan  rendered  by  far 
the  most  important  services.  His  appointment  was 
based  solely  on  his  merits,  whereas  the  fact  that  Daniel 
Claus  was  Johnson's  son-in-law  and  Guy  Johnson  his 
nephew  and  son-in-law  was  doubtless  responsible  for 
their  appointment.  Gorham  owed  his  position  entirely 
to  the  political  influence  of  friends  in  England.  This 
influence  was  so  strong,  that  had  not  Gage  and  Johnson 
objected,  he  would  have  received  the  rank  of  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Affairs  and  would  have  had  a  third 
district  created  for  him.190 

195  Johnson  to  Board  of  Trade,  June  25,  1757,  in  Bd.  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations 
General,  xvi. 

196  Johnson  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  Nov.  13,  1763,  in  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs. 
vn,  579;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  11,  841;  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  458.  The  references 
to  Croghan  in  the  Johnson  Manuscripts  are  almost  as  numerous  as  all  the 
references  to  the  other  three  deputies  combined. 


122       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Gorham  was  assigned  to  Nova  Scotia-  a  region 
where  the  Indian  question  had  long  ceased  to  be  very 
important  and  where  a  placeman  could  draw  his  salary 
without  much  labor.  Claus  was  assigned  to  Canada 
and  made  his  headquarters  at  Montreal;  the  Indians 
in  this  region  had  lost  their  spirit  of  independence  and 
native  vigor  as  a  result  of  living  for  over  a  century  as 
neighbors  to  Europeans.  Guy  Johnson  assisted  his 
uncle  in  New  York  in  his  numerous  conferences  with 
the  friendly  Iroquois  and  also  at  times  acted  as  his  sec- 
retary. To  Croghan  were  assigned  the  tribes  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  Ohio  valley,  including  the  distant 
tribes  in  the  Illinois  country.  Here  the  friction  be- 
tween the  two  races  over  trade  and  land  was  greatest. 
During  this  period,  it  was  in  the  Ohio  valley  that  the 
center  of  Indian  population  was  located.  The  for- 
midable power  of  these  tribes  was  shown  in  Braddock's 
defeat,  in  many  bloody  raids  on  the  frontiers  of  Vir- 
ginia, Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  finally  in  Pon- 
tiac's  conspiracy.  The  Indian  agent  who  entered  their 
country  frequently  did  so  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  Prob- 
ably no  man  was  better  equipped  to  serve  his 
fellow  countrymen  in  this  field  than  George  Croghan. 

It  was  while  Croghan  was  with  Braddock  that  he 
began  to  develop  a  longing  to  enter  the  imperial  ser- 
vice. On  May  15,  1755,  he  wrote  to  Johnson:  "I 
should  be  glad  to  keep  up  a  Correspondence  with  you 
and  shall  by  every  opportunity  let  you  know  what  is 
doing  in  these  parts."  197  After  his  return  to  Pennsyl- 
vania he  wrote  again:  "If  I  can  be  of  any  Service  in 
the  Expedition  [against  Dieskau  at  Crown  Point]  or 
in  Indian  Afairs  in  this  Part  of  the  Country  I  Shall  be 

197  Johnson  mss.,  i,  168. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 23 

very  Proud  to  Serve  his  Majesty  and  Expects  your 
Interest  if  you  Shall  think  Me  Deserving.     .     ."  198 

Croghan  left  Pennsylvania  in  the  spring  of  1756  and 
visited  Fort  Johnson.  Here  he  at  once  began  to  assist 
Johnson  in  his  task  of  keeping  as  many  Indians  as 
possible  friendly  to  the  English.  He  accompanied 
Johnson  on  his  journey  to  Onondago  in  June  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  conferences  held  there.  Later  he 
assisted  in  various  conferences  at  Fort  Johnson  with  del- 
egations of  Iroquois,  Shawnee,  and  Delawares.  After 
the  capture  of  Oswego  by  Montcalm,  Johnson  fell  sick 
and  his  duties  were  assumed  by  Croghan.  The  latter 
led  an  Indian  detachment  to  assist  Colonel  Webb  in 
protecting  the  Oneida  carrying  place.  In  September, 
1756,  Lord  Loudoun,  the  new  commander-in-chief, 
planned  to  attack  Ticonderoga.  Johnson  furnished 
him  with  two  hundred  Indians;  of  these,  one  hundred 
were  led  by  Croghan.199 

Loudoun  recommended  to  Johnson  that  they  con- 
sider employing  Croghan  in  Indian  affairs.  As  a 
result,  before  November  19,  1756,  Croghan  had  been 
made  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs.  The 
Board  of  Trade  confirmed  the  appointment.  Johnson 
suggested  that  Croghan  be  granted  a  commission,  but 
Loudoun  considered  this  unnecessary  as  Croghan  was 
to  act  only  as  Johnson's  deputy.200  This  remained 
Croghan's  legal  status  for  the  sixteen  years  that  he  held 
office  under  Johnson.  The  arrangement  worked  satis- 
factorily because  of  the  intimate  personal  relations  that 
existed  between  Johnson  and  Croghan.     When  Cro- 

198  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Sept.  10,  1755,  in  Johnson  mss.,  ii,  212. 

199  C.  O.,  5:  1067;  Minutes  of  various  Indian  Conferences,  in  N.Y.  Col. 
Docs.,  vii,  136,  152,  174,  175,  187-190,  196,  2ii,  230,  232,  236. 

200  Loudoun  to  Johnson,  Sept.  19,  1756,  in  Sullivan,  James:  Papers  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,  11,  562;  idem,  762,  764;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  167-231; 
Brant  mss.,  1F24. 


124       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ghan's  difficulties  seemed  to  become  unbearable  and  he 
felt  like  resigning,  a  visit  to  Johnson  Hall  would  give 
him  new  courage.  At  times,  when  he  happened  to  be 
in  Philadelphia,  the  colonial  metropolis,  he  would  buy 
at  Johnson's  request,  such  articles  as  a  hat,  a  pair  of 
breeches,  or  a  saddle  for  him.  If  Johnson  happened 
to  be  ill,  Croghan  would  see  a  Philadelphia  physician 
and  send  Johnson  some  medicines.201  These  two  emi- 
grants from  Ireland  labored  together  in  the  greatest 
spirit  of  loyalty  for  their  own  interests  as  well  as  for 
the  interests  of  their  king. 

On  November  24,  1756,  Johnson  gave  Croghan  his 
first  formal  instructions.  These  outlined  the  Indian 
policy  which  was  to  be  followed  for  the  next  two  years 
and  which  proved  to  be  an  important  factor  in  enabling 
General  Forbes  to  capture  Fort  DuQuesne  and  thus 
bring  the  French  and  Indian  War  to  a  close  in  the 
Ohio  region.  Johnson  directed  Croghan  to  proceed 
to  Pennsylvania  and  ( 1 )  to  find  out  the  attitude  of 
those  Indians  who  still  remained  within  the  English 
area  and  to  try  to  keep  them  friendly  and  to  persuade 
them  to  join  the  English  forces;  (2)  to  find  out  the 
causes  of  the  alienation  of  the  Delawares  and  Shawnee 
and  to  assure  them  that  if  they  would  return  and  state 
their  grievances  a  sincere  attempt  would  be  made  to 
grant  them  justice;  (3)  to  send  Indian  messengers  to 
the  Ohio  to  secure  intelligence  and  to  weaken  the  alli- 
ance of  the  Ohio  tribes  with  the  French.  Croghan 
was  also  instructed  to  report  to  Lord  Loudoun  or  to 
his  representative  in  Pennsylvania  and  to  keep  a  jour- 
nal to  send  to  Johnson.202 

201  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Dec.  13,  1768,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xvii,  19;  N.Y.  Col. 
Docs.,  vii,  266-7.  321 ;  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  12,  1763,  MS.  in  Newberry 
Library. 

202  Instructions  to  Croghan,  Nov.  24,  1756,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vii,  355,  435 ; 
cf.  similar  instructions,  Feb.  16,  1757,  in  Indian  Affairs,  ill,  2,  Penn  mss. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 25 

Croghan  encountered  numerous  handicaps  in  at- 
tempting the  difficult  tasks  assigned  to  him.  Until 
1756,  Pennsylvania  had  managed  her  own  Indian 
affairs,  but  after  1755  she  had  no  longer  seen  fit  to 
employ  Croghan.  Now,  by  an  act  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment, he  was  given  charge  over  Indian  affairs  in 
that  province.  When  Governor  Denny  informed  his 
council  of  Croghan's  appointment,  this  body  "was  not 
a  little  surprized  at  the  Appointment,  and  desired  to 
see  his  Credentials."  The  assembly  also  demanded  to 
know  "what  Authority  Mr.  Croghan  was  vested  with," 
before  it  would  consider  granting  him  aid.  Later, 
when  Croghan's  instructions  were  read  before  the 
council  and  it  was  noted  that  he  was  required  to  report 
to  Johnson  and  to  Lord  Loudoun,  but  not  to  the  gov- 
ernor, the  council  desired  the  governor  to  inform  them 
"what  part  he  proposed  to  take  in  it."  203.  At  first 
Denny  continued  to  follow  his  previous  policy  and 
sent  out  invitations  to  the  Indians  to  meet  with  him. 
Johnson  and  Loudoun  remonstrated,  saying  that  this  was 
contrary  to  the  royal  orders  and  to  their  plan  of  war. 
In  spite  of  this,  Denny  continued  with  his  plans  to  hold 
a  treaty  at  Lancaster  early  in  1757  and  asked  that  the 
expenses  thereof  be  met  by  the  imperial  officials. 
Loudoun  replied  that  if  Pennsylvania  "obstinately  in- 
sisted on  carrying  on  Negotiations  with  the  Indians," 
it  could  also  pay  the  bills  entailed;  this,  he  hoped, 
would  cause  them  to  see  "that  it  is  their  Interest,  as 
well  as  their  Duty,  to  pay  Obedience  to  the  King's 
Commands,  and  not  to  interfere  with  his  Prerogative  of 
making  Peace  and  War."  204     Thereafter,  the  initiative 

203  Minutes  of  the  Provincial  Council,  Dec.  14,  1756,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn, 
355;  idem,  384. 

204:Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  480,  481,  524;  Loudoun  to  Denny,  May  5,  1757,  in 
Indian  Affairs,  ill,  10,  Penn  mss. 


126       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

in  the  more  important  Indian  affairs  was  largely  left 
to  Johnson  and  Croghan,  though  Pennsylvania  con- 
tinued to  hold  her  own  local  conferences  with  the 
Indians  living  on  her  own  soil. 

Croghan  was  also  handicapped  by  the  fact  that  he 
was  given  imperial  duties  to  perform,  but  no  imperial 
funds  with  which  to  perform  them.  Upon  his  arrival 
in  Philadelphia  he  wished  to  send  trusty  messengers 
to  the  Ohio  Indians  secretly  and  quickly.  He  there- 
fore applied  to  Governor  Denny  for  funds,  but  the 
latter  replied  that  he  had  no  funds  for  such  purposes; 
Croghan  next  applied  to  the  provincial  commissioners 
and  then  to  the  assembly  with  the  same  result;  at  last, 
after  five  weeks  had  been  lost,  a  Quaker  organization 
interested  in  furthering  peace  with  the  Indians,  sup- 
plied £ioo.205  In  1757,  on  the  order  of  Colonel  Stan- 
wix,  commander  of  the  forces  in  Pennsylvania,  Cro- 
ghan purchased  clothing  for  some  Cherokee  warriors 
at  a  cost  of  about  £200.  To  secure  it  he  pledged  his 
own  credit  for  the  good  of  the  service.  When  the  ac- 
count was  rendered  Pennsylvania  refused  to  pay  it. 
Several  years  later,  Johnson  was  still  recommending 
to  the  commanders-in-chief  that  Croghan  be  reim- 
bursed. During  the  years  1757  and  1758,  Croghan's 
major  expenses  were  paid  by  Pennsylvania.  Through 
its  control  over  such  appropriations,  the  assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  secured  a  large  influence  in  Indian 
affairs.206 

The  greatest  handicap  which  Croghan  met  with  was 
the  bitter  strife  between  the  proprietary  and  popular 

205Pemberton  to  Partridge,  Jan.  10,  1757,  in  Benjamin  Franklin,  mss., 
xlvii,  10;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  382-385,  391. 

206  Johnson  to  Amherst,  July  3,  1762,  in  Johnson  mss.,  vi,  56;  Johnson  to 
Gage,  Jan.  30,  1766,  MS.  in  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.  Library;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  498, 
66off.,  passim ;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  vt,  854. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 27 

parties  in  Pennsylvania.  The  former,  led  by  the  gov- 
ernor and  council,  was  intent  upon  protecting  the  repu- 
tation of  the  Penns  and  upon  urging  a  vigorous  mili- 
tary policy;  it  usually  had  the  support  of  the  imperial 
government.  The  popular  party,  dominated  by  the 
Quakers,  attacked  the  vested  interests  of  the  Penns, 
opposed  the  policy  of  offering  bounties  for  Indian 
scalps  and  of  declaring  war  upon  the  Delaware  Indians 
in  Pennsylvania;  it  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
chief  causes  of  the  alienation  of  the  Indians  were  the 
frauds  and  sharp  practices  of  the  Penns  in  purchasing 
lands  from  the  Indians.  The  Quakers  organized  a 
strong  "Friendly  Association  for  regaining  and  pre- 
serving Peace  with  the  Indians  by  Pacific  Measures" 
and  supported  this  association  with  voluntary  contri- 
butions. Its  leaders  tried  to  secure  control  over  Indian 
affairs.  The  assembly  was  usually  in  sympathy  with 
their  actions.  It  passed  a  law  in  1758  for  the  regula- 
tion of  Indian  trade.  This  law  aimed  to  remove  the 
cause  of  many  Indian  troubles  by  establishing  in  the 
Indian  country  provincial  trading  houses  where  goods 
would  be  sold  justly.  But  the  assembly  was  careful 
to  insist  that  this  system  was  not  to  be  managed  by  the 
governor  and  council,  but  by  Provincial  Commission- 
ers under  its  own  control.  Thus  the  governor  and 
council  were  being  deprived  of  their  formal  control 
over  Indian  affairs,  on  the  one  side  by  the  appointment 
of  Johnson  and  Croghan,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
assembly's  utilization  of  its  power  over  the  purse.207 

Croghan  and  Johnson  naturally  came  into  conflict 
with  the  Quakers.     During  the  year  1756,  largely  be- 

207  Thomson:  Alienation  of  the  Delaivares  and  Shaivanese,  etc.;  Pa. 
Arch.,  in,  115,  160,  584;  Statutes  at  Large  of  Pa.,  v,  320-330,  453;  idem,  vi, 
283,  311,  380;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  V,  97;  Address  of  the  "Friendly  Assoc- 
iation    .     .     ."  to  Gov.  Denny,  July  13,  1757,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  637-647. 


128       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

cause  of  a  lack  of  funds,  Governor  Morris  had  ac- 
quiesed  in  letting  the  Friendly  Associaton  manage 
Indian  affairs  and  make  the  necessary  presents.  At 
later  treaties  with  the  Indians  the  Quaker  leaders  were 
present.  They  held  their  own  private  conferences  with 
influential  chiefs  and  gave  separate  presents,  and  often 
defeated  the  plans  of  Croghan,  Johnson,  the  governor 
and  his  council.  To  them  it  was  repugnant  that  any 
particular  religious  group  should  attempt  to  act  for  the 
government.  The  bitter  antagonism  between  these 
two  groups  of  leaders  was  illustrated  at  the  Indian 
treaty  at  Easton  in  1762  where  Johnson  was  reported 
to  have  drawn  his  sword  upon  the  Quaker  leader, 
James  Pemberton.  "Indian  Affairs  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered and  conducted  upon  one  public  Spirited  plan 
for  the  good  of  the  whole.  .  .",  wrote  Johnson  to 
the  Board  of  Trade.208 

The  Quakers  accused  Croghan  of  not  having  "spirit 
enough  to  do  his  duty".  Their  antagonism  continued 
until  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  though 
Croghan  was  on  intimate  terms  with  some  of  their 
leaders  and  at  times  he  had  the  support  of  the  Friendly 
Association.209  Governor  Denny,  on  the  other  hand, 
wrote:  "Mr.  Croghan  has  exerted  himself  on  all  oc- 
casions for  the  good  of  His  Majesty's  service,  and  it 
required  his  peculiar  address  to  manage  the  Indians, 
and  counteract  the  designs  of  a  wretched  and  restless 
faction".     To  Croghan  it  seemed  that  all  parties  in 

208  Croghan  to  Peters,  Aug.  18,  1757,  in  Offic.  Corresp.,  vm,  271,  Penn 
mss.  ;  Johnson  to  Bd.  of  Trade,  Sept.  28,  1757,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  277; 
idem,  321;  Sullivan:     Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  ill,  822. 

209  Statement  drawn  up  by  the  Quakers  in  July,  1757,  in  Franklin  MSS., 
XLIX,  40;  Journal  of  James  Kenny,  1761-1763,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog., 
xxxvii,  26,  166,  188,  195,  201.  In  1763,  the  Quakers  accused  Croghan  of 
being  responsible  for  Pontiac's  Conspiracy. -Bouquet  to  Croghan,  June  14, 
1763,  in  Bouquet  mss.,  A  23-1:  240. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 29 

Pennsylvania  were  working  for  their  own  private  in- 
terests and  neglecting  the  general  interest.  When  he 
proceeded  to  inquire  into  the  grievances  of  the  Indians 
he  found  that  the  proprietary  agents  tried  to  stop 
him.210 

Finally,  Croghan  was  handicapped  by  two  condi- 
tions resulting  from  the  coming  of  the  Cherokee  and 
Catawba  warriors  into  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Penn- 
sylvania in  1 756- 1 757.  Several  hundred  came  and 
were  employed  to  scout  beyond  the  English  line  of 
forts  and  drive  back  marauding  bands  of  French  and 
Indians.  Upon  one  occasion  they  captured  the  French 
leader,  Belestre,  and  brought  him  to  Winchester  where 
he  was  examined  before  Washington,  Atkin,  and  Cro- 
ghan.211 These  southern  tribes  had  for  generations 
been  the  implacable  foes  of  the  Iroquois,  Delaware, 
and  Shawnee  Indians.  Almost  every  year  saw  war 
parties  of  young  braves  from  the  northern  tribes  fol- 
lowing the  trails  through  western  Virginia  to  western 
Carolina  in  order  to  secure  scalps  of  some  southern 
Indians.  When,  therefore,  the  latter  appeared  in  the 
north  as  the  allies  of  the  English,  it  tended  to  intensify 
the  hostilty  of  the  Delawares  and  Shawnee,  and  it 
caused  the  Iroquois  to  declare  that  they  would  never 
fight  as  allies  of  the  despised  Cherokees. 

In  the  second  place,  the  coming  of  the  southern 
Indians  brought  on  a  dispute  with  Atkin  over  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Indian  Super- 
intendents was  to  be  limited  by  territorial  boundaries 
or  by  personal  relations  to  certain  tribes.  Croghan  and 
officials  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  favored  the 

210  Denny  to  Johnson,  Oct.  24,  1758,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William 
Johnson,  in,  10;  idem,  321. 

211  Croghan's  Journal,  May  24-July  21,  1757,  in  Indian  Affairs,  in,  nff., 
Penn  mss.  ;  cf.  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  28off.;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  532,  600. 


130       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

former,  while  Atkin  and  Virginia  favored  the  latter. 
The  question  was  brought  to  an  issue  in  Pennsylvania. 
Some  sixty  Cherokees  had  pursued  some  hostile  In- 
dians into  Pennsylvania  and  defeated  them.  To  re- 
ward and  encourage  their  services,  this  colony  ar- 
ranged, upon  Croghan's  advice,  to  give  them  a  present 
at  Fort  Loudoun.  On  May  24,  1757,  Croghan  left 
Lancaster  for  Fort  Loudoun  with  the  present,  but 
while  on  the  way  he  received  an  express  from  Atkin 
forbidding  him  "to  send  for,  speak  to,  or  give  any 
thing  to  them,  but  immediately  to  come  to  him  at  Win- 
chester". At  the  conferences  at  Winchester  there  were 
present  Atkin  and  Croghan ;  Colonel  Armstrong,  Cap- 
tain Armstrong,  and  Captain  French,  representing 
Pennsylvania;  and  Captain  Mercer,  Lieutenant 
Shelby,  and  Commissary  Ross,  representing  Maryland. 
After  a  frank  discussion  Atkin  was  persuaded  that 
there  was  no  desire  to  disregard  his  authority.  He  con- 
vinced the  others  that  he  was  not  aiming  to  have  the 
Cherokees  serve  Virginia  alone,  but  that  it  was  essen- 
tial when  they  desired  to  employ  southern  Indians,  that 
they  should  do  so  through  him  and  that  the  presents  in 
payment  for  such  services  should  be  given  by  the  prov- 
inces to  him  for  distribution.  Accordingly,  Atkin  pre- 
sented the  sixty  Cherokees  who  had  followed  Croghan 
with  goods  valued  at  £100.  For  this  Pennsylvania  re- 
imbursed him.  After  the  conference  was  over,  Cro- 
ghan returned  to  Fort  Loudoun  with  fifty-five  Chero- 
kees. These  were  to  serve  as  scouts.  They  had  been  em- 
ployed by  Virginia  for  four  months,  but  were  dissatis- 
fied with  the  meager  presents  which  Atkin  could  give 
them.  Colonel  Stanwix  of  the  British  army  expressed 
his  attitude  towards  the  entire  dispute  in  the  following 
words :"...!  find  all  those  employed  as  Agents 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       131 

very  jealous  of  one  another,  and  I  can  perceive  Mr. 
Croghan  so  of  Colonel  Armstrong,  and  by  the  enclosed 
you  will  find  Mt.  Atkins  so  of  them  all,  as  well  as  of 
the  Provinces."  212 

Such  were  the  handicaps  with  which  Croghan  had 
to  struggle  in  carrying  out  Johnson's  instructions  to 
proceed  to  Pennsylvania  and  attempt  to  detach  the 
Indians  from  the  French.  To  carry  out  this  task,  Cro- 
ghan in  December,  1756,  went  to  Philadelphia  and 
conferred  with  the  governor,  council  and  the  leaders 
of  the  assembly.  He  then  proceeded  in  midwinter  to 
the  frontiers.  In  January,  1757,  he  was  at  Harris's 
Ferry  sending  out  Indian  messengers  to  the  Ohio  and 
upper  Susquehanna  tribes  inviting  them  to  confer- 
ences with  the  English.  He  returned  to  Philadelphia 
in  February  in  order  to  participate  in  the  conferences 
which  Lord  Loudoun  was  holding  with  military  offi- 
cials and  governors  for  the  purpose  of  planning  the 
next  campaign.213 

After  these  conferences,  Croghan  left  to  resume  his 
work  on  the  frontiers.  When  he  arrived  at  Harris's 
Ferry  on  March  29,  he  found  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  Indians  belonging  to  the  Six  Nations,  Delawares, 
Conestogas,  and  Naticokes  who  had  come  in  answer 
to  his  invitation.  After  a  conference  was  held  at  John 
Harris's  house,  some  Indians  were  sent  out  as  scouts 
and  as  scalping  bands  to  the  Ohio;  the  remainder  came 

212  Atkin  to  Croghan,  June  8,  1757,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  175;  idem,  146,  187, 
197,  268,  272,  288;  Stanwix  to  Gov.  Denny,  June  12,  1757,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec, 
vii,  598;  idem,  534,  600,  630;  Va.  Hist.  Coll.,  iv,  619,  645.  The  "Fort 
Loudoun"  mentioned  above  was  in  Pennsylvania.  Thwaites  is  in  error  in 
stating  that  it  was  the  fort  by  the  same  name,  but  located  in  what  is  today 
Tennessee.  {Early  Western  Travels,  1,  100;  cf.  page  238).  Captain  Paris, 
the  interpreter  for  Maryland,  was  very  hostile  to  both  Atkin  and  Croghan. 

213  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  14,  1757,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  266; 
Croghan  to  Burd,  Feb.  14,  1757,  in  Shippen  mss.,  II,  in;  idem,  145;  Pa.  Col. 
Rec,  vii,  382-385,  403. 


132       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

with  Croghan  to  Lancaster  for  a  more  formal  con- 
ference. Here  they  waited  in  vain  for  a  month  expect- 
ing the  arrival  of  Teedyuscung,  the  Delaware  chief 
who  claimed  to  be  leader  of  ten  nations  of  Delawares 
and  Iroquois  living  chiefly  along  the  upper  Susque- 
hanna. In  the  meantime,  Croghan  had  to  take  care  of 
two  hundred  Indians,  men,  women,  and  children,  in  a 
camp  two  miles  out  of  Lancaster,  keeping  them  sober 
and  holding  them  until  the  conference  should  open.214 

Finally,  on  May  12,  1757,  Governor  Denny  and  his 
council,  ex-Governor  Hamilton,  Isaac  Norris,  the 
speaker  of  the  assembly,  a  committee  from  the  assem- 
bly, Richard  Peters,  Conrad  Weiser,  Colonel  Stanwix, 
the  local  magistrates,  over  a  hundred  Quakers,  and 
others  met  the  Indians  in  conference.  Croghan's 
speeches  aimed  to  reestablish  friendly  relations  and  to 
soothe  the  Indians  who  were  angered  by  the  attacks  of 
frontiersmen  and  by  the  fraudulent  taking  of  their 
lands.  At  the  close  of  the  conference  the  Indians  left 
for  the  upper  Susquehanna  carrying  with  them  another 
invitation  to  Teedyuscung  to  come  to  a  conference. 
Croghan  turned  his  attention  to  the  Cherokees  and 
went  to  Winchester  to  meet  Atkin.  During  the  next 
months,  Colonel  Stanwix  relied  on  him  to  persuade 
the  Indians  to  assist  the  army  in  meeting  threatened 
French  attacks.215 

Efforts  were  now  redoubled  to  try  to  arrange  a  con- 
ference with  Teedyuscung.  It  was  hoped  that  such  a 
conference  would  result  in  ending  the  Indian  ravages 
on  the  northwestern  frontier  in  Pennsylvania  and  that 

214  Minutes  of  Croghan's  Proceedings,  Mar.  29-May  9,  1757,  in  Pa.  Col. 
Rec,  vn,  506-517;  idem,  465,  475,  479,  503. 

215  Minutes  of  the  conference  at  Lancaster,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  517-550; 
Stanwix  to  Washington,  June  18,  1757,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to  Washington, 
11.  100. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 33 

it  would  bring  over  the  Senecas  with  their  one  thou- 
sand warriors.  The  latter  constituted  the  largest  tribe 
of  the  Six  Nations  and  were  pro-French  in  sympathy. 
Pressure  was  therefore  brought  to  bear  upon  Teedyu- 
scung  through  Johnson  and  the  Six  Nations,  at  the 
same  time  that  the  Quakers  sent  him  conciliatory  in- 
vitations. After  the  most  tantalizing  delays,  Teedyu- 
scung  with  about  two  hundred  Delawares  and  one  hun- 
dred Senecas,  men,  women,  and  children,  gathered  at 
Easton  in  July,  1757,  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace. 

Governor  Denny  had  written  Croghan  urging  his 
prompt  attendance  because  the  conference  would  not 
be  opened  until  his  arrival.  When  it  opened  there 
were  present  Governor  Denny  and  his  council,  Cro- 
ghan, Weiser,  ex-Governor  Hamilton,  Secretary 
Peters,  the  four  provincial  commissioners,  Joseph  Gal- 
loway, John  Hughes,  Joseph  Fox  and  William  Mas* 
ters,  and  altogether  about  twenty-five  Quakers.  Among 
the  latter  were  the  three  Pembertons,  Jeremiah 
Warder,  Thomas  Wharton,  Isaac  Norris,  and  Charles 
Thomson.  The  commissioners  and  Quakers  belonged 
to  the  popular  party  and  had  great  power  because  they 
had  absolute  control  of  the  presents  to  be  given  to  the 
Indians.  The  proprietary  party  was  at  once  put  upon 
the  defensive  when  the  Indians  complained  of  unjust 
purchases  of  lands  by  the  Penns,  and  asked  that  the 
region  known  as  Wyoming  be  set  aside  as  a  permanent 
Indian  reservation  and  that  trade  be  reopened  by  the 
establishment  of  a  trading  post  at  Fort  Augusta. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  the  English  had  to  inject 
their  own  party  differences  into  an  Indian  conference 
in  such  critical  times.  These  differences  came  to  an 
issue  at  Easton  over  the  question  as  to  who  should  take 
down  the  minutes.    The  proprietary  adherents  assumed 


134       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

that  only  Croghan  would  take  down  the  minutes ;  they 
felt  that  this  would  be  fair  to  all  because  each  morning 
the  minutes  of  the  preceding  day  would  be  read  and 
interpreted  to  the  Indians.  This  system  had  been  in 
use  for  several  days  when  Teedyuscung,  probably  in- 
fluenced by  the  Quakers,  asked  for  his  own  clerk. 
When  the  governor  refused  his  request,  he  threatened 
to  go  home  without  helping  to  bring  over  the  western 
Indians,  and  the  provincial  commissioners  announced 
that  they  would  leave  with  the  presents.  As  a  result, 
on  the  following  day,  Teedyuscung  "called  for  Charles 
Thompson,  Master  of  the  Publick  Quaker  School  in 
the  City  of  Philadelphia;  placed  him  by  Mr.  Trent  at 
the  Table,  and  said  he  had  chosen  him  for  his  Clerk; 
Whereupon  he  sat  down  and  began  to  take  Minutes, 
without  asking  Permission  of  the  Governor,  who  took 
no  further  notice  of  it."  Thereafter,  the  crown,  the 
province,  and  Teedyuscung  each  had  separate  interpre- 
ters and  clerks.216 

During  the  hours  outside  of  conferences,  each 
English  faction  tried  to  win  over  the  Indians.  Since 
the  Indians  loved  liquor  the  proprietary  party  used  it 
and  kept  Teedyuscung  drunk  most  of  the  time.  On 
July  23,  they  celebrated  the  victory  of  the  King  of 
Prussia  with  bonfires  and  liquor;  on  July  24,  they  cel- 
ebrated the  arrival  of  the  English  fleet;  on  the  follow- 

216  Croghan's  Journal,  May  24-July  21,  1757,  in  Indian  Affairs,  m,  12, 
Penn  mss.  The  minutes  for  the  treaty  of  Easton,  July  21-Aug.  7,  with 
related  documents  are  found  in  the  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vu,  287-322  and  in  the 
Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vu,  648-714.  Cf.  idem,  462,  605,  634.  The  three  versions  of  the 
minutes  were  afterwards  compared  and  an  official  version  agreed  upon. 
Speaker  Norris  wrote  to  Franklin:  "the  Treaty  laid  before  the  House  is  in 
the  Hand  of  Geo.  Croghan  .  .  .  but  what  share  he  had  in  these  minutes, 
besides  what  they  were  compelled  to  make  and  collate  at  the  publick  con- 
ference you  who  are  acquainted  with  our  Indian  Minute  Makers  need  not 
be  informed."- Franklin  mss.,  I,  50. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 35 

ing  three  days,  Weiser,  Croghan,  and  others  managed 
to  keep  Teedyuscung  drunk.  On  the  28th  Thomson 
wrote  to  a  friend:  "He  [Teedyuscung]  did  not  go  to 
sleep  last  night.  This  morning  he  lay  down  under  a 
shed  about  break  of  day  and  slept  a  few  hours.  He  is 
to  speak  this  afternoon.  He  is  to  be  sure  in  a  fine 
capacity  to  do  business.  But  thus  we  go  on.  I  leave 
you  to  make  reflections.  I  for  my  part  wish  myself 
at  home."  The  Quakers  used  more  successful  methods. 
They  were  continually  in  private  conferences  with  the 
Indians  in  small  groups;  they  had  control  over  the 
presents  and  the  Indians  usually  came  out  of  such  con- 
ferences wearing  new  shirts  or  silver  jewelry,  or  with 
other  gifts.  So  successful  were  the  Quakers  that  when 
the  Englishmen  chanced  to  meet  the  Indians  outside  of 
conference  hours,  the  latter  would  usually  ask  in 
broken  English  if  they  were  Quakers.  ".  .  .  if 
answer'd  No,  they  wou'd  frown  and  look  very  stern 
and  illnatur'd  upon  us,  and  say  we  were  bad  Man- 
bad  Man  -  Governor's  Man ;  But  if  we  answer'd  in  the 
Affirmative  .  .  .  they  wou'd  smile  and  caress  us, 
and  call  us  Brothers,  and  say  we  were  good  Men,  - 
Quaker  good  Men  -  Governors  Men  bad  Men  -  good 
for  nothing     .     .     ." 

The  Quakers  regarded  Croghan  as  a  tool  in  the 
hands  of  the  proprietors.  Teedyuscung  stated  that 
"Croghan  was  a  Rogue,  and  that  he  would  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  him  or  Johnson.  .  ."  Croghan  re- 
garded the  Quaker  policy  as  that  of  madmen.  He 
realized  their  enmity  to  him,  but  felt  that  he  had  im- 
partially done  his  duty  and  hoped  that  the  imperial 
government  would  interpose  to  check  the  Quakers.217 

217  Thomson  to  Samuel  Rhodes  [Rhoads],  July  28,  1757,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of 
Hist,  and  Biog.,  xx,  422 ;  Depositions  of  Duche  and  Peters,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  Ill, 
274;  idem,  250,  263,  319;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vn,  731. 


136       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

It  was  agreed  at  the  treaty  to  refer  the  land  disputes 
to  Johnson;  Pennsylvania  granted  the  request  for  the 
establishment  of  a  trading  post  and  sent  sixty  carpen- 
ters, masons,  and  farmers  to  Wyoming  to  erect  houses 
for  the  Indians  and  to  plow  their  land.  Johnson  re- 
garded the  treaty  only  as  a  truce  for  without  the  friend- 
ship of  the  Ohio  tribes  the  province  was  not  safe.  By 
mingling  informally  with  the  Indians  at  this  treaty, 
Croghan  learned  that  the  French  in  the  west  were 
short  of  provisions,  ammunition,  and  presents,  due  to 
operations  of  the  English  navy,  and  that  the  Ohio  tribes 
were  losing  their  enthusiasm  to  fight  as  allies  to  the 
French.  This  intelligence  was  acted  upon  the  next 
year. 

During  the  year  1757,  Croghan  had  held  three  major 
and  many  minor  Indian  conferences  in  Pennsylvania. 
After  the  conference  at  Easton,  he  left  for  Johnson 
Hall  and  for  almost  a  year  he  made  it  his  headquarters. 
Here  he  assisted  Johnson  in  various  conferences  and 
in  securing  intelligence.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1758, 
Croghan  was  on  the  frontier  in  the  Mohawk  valley 
equipping  and  sending  out  white  and  Indian  scouts. 
In  July,  Johnson  and  Croghan  led  about  four  hundred 
Iroquois  warriors  to  assist  the  new  commander-in-chief, 
Abercromby,  in  his  ill-advised  attack  on  Ticonderoga. 
They  were  unable  to  render  much  assistance  because  of 
his  poor  tactics.  On  July  23,  Abercromby  and  John- 
son sent  Croghan  back  to  Pennsylvania  to  assist  Gen- 
eral Forbes  in  his  campaign  against  Fort  DuQuesne.218 

Unlike  Braddock,   Forbes  appreciated  the  impor- 

218  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  12,  1758,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxiii,  266; 
Croghan's  Journal,  March  18-25,  1758,  in  idem,  269;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  1, 
520;  Abercromby  to  Pitt,  May  24,  1758,  in  Kimball,  Gertrude  S.:  Corres- 
pondence of  William  Pitt,  etc.,  1,  258;  Croghan  to  Denny,  June  30,  1758,  in 
Emmet  Coll. ;  Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  485. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 37 

tance  of  the  Indians  in  relation  to  the  success  of  his 
campaign.  In  the  spring  of  1758,  he,  himself,  super- 
vised the  employment  of  some  seven  hundred  southern 
Indians.  He  spent  £6,000  for  presents  to  keep  them 
out  scouting,  but  they  gradually  went  back  home  before 
the  campaign  had  really  started.  This  was  fortunate, 
for  the  presence  of  the  southern  Indians  would  have 
hindered  peace  overtures  to  the  Ohio  Indians.  The 
exasperating  delays  encountered  by  Forbes  also  proved 
to  be  fortunate,  for  the  Ohio  Indians  were  thereby 
given  time  to  make  their  decision  to  be  neutral  and 
thus  avoid  the  probability  of  a  severe  chastisment  for 
their  misdeeds.  Few  men  did  more  to  hasten  this 
decision  than  Christian  Frederick  Post.  He  was  sent 
to  the  wavering  Ohio  tribes  in  July,  1758,  by  Governor 
Denny.  Heroically  and  calmly,  and  with  sublime 
courage  he  went  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country 
and  placed  himself  in  the  hands  of  a  treacherous  and 
cruel  foe.  He  met  the  Indians  in  conferences  west  of 
Fort  DuQuesne.  Frequently  French  officers  were 
present,  but  they  could  not  persuade  the  Indians  to 
permit  them  to  take  Post  as  a  prisoner  and  they  dared 
not  take  him  without  their  permission.  Post  returned 
by  unfrequented  forest  paths  and  the  good  news  which 
he  brought  came  at  an  opportune  time  to  be  of  service 
at  the  next  treaty  of  Easton.219 

In  the  meantime,  at  the  suggestion  of  Forbes,  efforts 
were  made  to  hold  another  conference  with  the  Penn- 
sylvania tribes  to  adjust  finally  their  grievances  over 
land  purchases.  After  many  delays,  about  five  hun- 
dred Indians,  chiefly  Iroquois,  Delawares,  and  Shaw- 
nee, gathered  at  Easton  for  an  important  conference 

219  Forbes  to  Pitt,  May  1,  19,  and  June  17,  1758,  in  Kimball:  Corres- 
pondence of  William  Pitt,  etc.,  1,  237,  248  and  278,  respectively;  Post's 
Journal,  in  Thwaites:    Early  Western  Travels,  1,  177-295,  passim. 


138       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

lasting  from  October  8  to  October  26,  1758.  Governor 
Bernard  and  the  five  Indian  commissioners  of  New 
Jersey  came  to  meet  the  Indians.  Pennsylvania  was 
represented  by  practically  the  same  persons  who  were 
at  Easton  in  1757.  In  managing  this  conference,  Cro- 
ghan  had  to  contend  with  the  same  party  strife  that  was 
present  at  the  preceding  treaty.  This  time  it  was  the 
Quakers  who  kept  the  Indians  drunk.  His  task  was 
lightened,  however,  by  the  presence  of  the  Mohawk 
chiefs.  They  overawed  Teedyuscung  and  served  as 
intermediaries  between  the  other  Indians  and  the 
whites.  The  seriousness  with  which  the  Indians  re- 
garded this  conference  is  illustrated  by  the  following 
brief  entry  in  the  minutes  for  October  17:  "The  In- 
dians were  in  Council  all  Day,  and  acquainted  the 
Governors  that  they  could  not  be  ready  to  meet  before 
morning." 

The  Indians  finally  agreed  to  return  their  English 
captives,  to  live  as  friends  with  the  English,  and  to 
urge  the  Ohio  Indians  to  follow  their  example.  To 
achieve  this  result,  New  Jersey  paid  the  Minnisinks 
$1,000  to  quiet  their  land  claims.  Pennsylvania  agreed 
to  open  additional  trading  houses  in  the  Indian  coun- 
try and  also  made  the  Indians  a  large  present.  This 
present  included  9  gross  of  starred  gartering,  4  gross  of 
calimancoe,  28  pieces  of  red  or  blue  strouds,  50  pairs  of 
shoes,  3  dozen  pairs  of  women's  stockings,  2  dozen 
shears,  4  dozen  ivory  combs,  100  blankets,  160  match- 
coats,  and  433  plain  or  ruffled  shirts.  The  Penns  also 
made  great  concessions.  At  the  Congress  at  Albany 
in  1754,  they  had  secured  from  a  few  Iroquois  chiefs 
a  deed  for  all  of  southwestern  Pennsylvania.  They 
had  paid,  however,  for  none  except  the  lands  east  of 
the  Appalachian  divide  and  south  of  a  line  running 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       1 39 

east  by  northeast  in  central  Pennsylvania.  In  1757, 
Croghan  had  drawn  up  a  memorandum  pointing  out 
how  the  recent  land  purchases  of  the  Penns  had 
offended  the  Indians  and  recommending  that  the  Penns 
disclaim  their  rights  to  most  of  the  purchase  of  1754. 
This  memorandum  had  been  sent  by  Johnson  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  to  the  Penns  in  England.  As  a 
result,  the  Penns  now  deeded  back  that  portion  for 
which  they  had  not  yet  paid.  They  also  provided 
Croghan  with  presents  for  the  Iroquois  chiefs  and 
took  steps  to  satisfy  Teedyuscung  and  the  Delawares. 
The  treaty  of  Easton  made  in  1758  was  approved  and 
confirmed  by  the  British  ministry.  Because  of  this 
fact,  it  was  later  maintained  that  the  treaty  applied 
not  only  to  Pennsylvania,  but  that  it  also  forbade 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  other  colonies  from  mak- 
ing settlements  beyond  the  Appalachians  till  the  In- 
dians gave  their  consent.220 

Colonel  Bouquet,  in  accounting  for  the  capture  of 
Fort  DuQuesne,  wrote  that  this  treaty  struck  the  blow 
"which  has  knocked  the  French  in  the  head  .  .  ." 
Immediately  after  its  terms  were  known,  Post  was  dis- 
patched to  the  Ohio  with  the  news.  He  passed 
Forbes's  army  at  Loyalhanna  and  again  met  the  Ohio 
Indians  west  of  Fort  DuQuesne.  He  succeeded  in 
detaching  them  from  the  French  in  their  hour  of  need 
and  as  a  result  the  French  burned  Fort  DuQuesne  and 
retreated  down  the  Ohio.  This  saved  Forbes  from  an 
attack  such  as  Braddock  had  experienced.  Mean- 
while, Croghan,  Montour,  and  some  trusty  Indians  had 
joined  Forbes.     Washington  was  glad  to  hear  of  their 

220  Minutes  of  the  Treaty  at  Easton  in  1758,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vui,  175- 
223;  Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  544;  Memorandum  on  the  Observations  of  the  Proprie- 
tors, in  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  n,  756-761;  Deed  given  by  the  Penns  to  the 
Iroquois,  1758,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  xxvin,  92;  Peters  mssv  v,  65. 


140       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

coming  and  in  a  letter  to  Forbes  expressed  the  desire 
that  some  of  them  would  also  serve  as  scouts  with  his 
detachment.221 

After  Forbes  had  reached  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  in 
November,  1758,  Croghan  and  Montour  crossed  this 
river  and  visited  the  Indian  villages  within  a  radius 
of  about  one  hundred  miles.  Here  they  met  Post  who 
was  still  working  independently  among  the  Indians. 
The  latter  were  panic-stricken  and  were  planning  to 
flee  after  the  French.  They  were  reassured  by  the 
three  Englishmen  and  were  invited  to  a  conference 
with  General  Forbes  at  the  newly  christened  Fort  Pitt. 
The  self-sacrificing  Forbes  was  forced  by  a  fatal  illness 
to  return  at  once  to  Philadelphia  where  he  soon  died. 
He  left  the  command  to  Colonel  Bouquet.  He  with 
his  chief  officers  and  with  Croghan  and  Montour,  met 
the  Indians  in  conferences  early  in  December.  The 
English  desired  to  establish  peaceful  relations,  to  re- 
open trade,  to  secure  the  return  of  prisoners,  and  to 
receive  formal  permission  to  erect  a  fort  at  the  forks 
of  the  Ohio.  The  Indians  also  desired  peace  and  the 
resumption  of  trade,  but  they  had  suffered  so  much 
since  a  white  man's  fort  had  been  erected  in  their  coun- 
try that  they  yearned  to  see  the  English  soldiers  return 
over  the  mountains. 

When  Post  informed  Bouquet  that  the  Indians  re- 
fused to  grant  permission  to  erect  a  fort,  Bouquet  asked 
him  to  persuade  them  to  alter  their  reply.  A  private 
conference  between  Bouquet,  Colonel  Armstrong,  and 
Croghan  followed.  Two  days  later,  Croghan  in- 
formed Post  that  the  Indians  had  altered  their  reply. 
Post  refused  to  change  his  record  until  he,  himself,  had 

221  Bouquet  to  Chief-Justice  Allen,  Nov.  25,  1758,  in  Offic.  Corresp.,  ix,  53, 
Penn  mss. ;  Forbes  to  Bouquet,  Sept.  2,  1758,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  a  10:  243; 
Washington:     Writings,  u,  113. 


TURNING  THE  TIDE  OF  FRENCH  AGGRESSION       141 

spoken  to  the  Indians.  The  latter  told  him  that  "Mr. 
Crogan  and  Henry  Montour  had  not  spoke  and  acted 
honestly  and  uprightly.  .  .  We  have  told  them 
three  times  to  go  back;  but  they  will  not  go,  insisting 
upon  staying  here."  The  scarcity  of  provisions  caused 
the  early  return  of  Bouquet  and  most  of  the  army. 
Two  hundred  Virginians  under  Colonel  Mercer  re- 
mained, however,  at  Fort  Pitt.  Croghan  also  remained 
to  serve  the  troops  which  were  thus  left  marooned  in 
the  wilderness.  The  doom  of  the  red  man  in  the  Ohio 
valley  was  sealed;  never  again  was  there  to  be  a  day 
when  no  representatives  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  were 
to  be  found  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio. 

Sir  John  Sinclair,  who  had  had  sixty  friendly  Cher- 
okee and  Catawba  warriors  in  charge  on  the  campaign, 
had  left  earlier  than  Bouquet.  Upon  leaving  he 
wrote  to  him :  "Adieu,  my  dear  Bouquet.  The  great- 
est curse  that  our  Lord  can  pronounce  against  the 
worst  of  sinners  is  to  give  them  business  to  do  with 
provincial  commissioners  and  friendly  Indians."  For 
fourteen  more  years  Croghan's  official  relations  con- 
tinued, not  only  with  provincial  commissoners  and 
friendly  Indians,  but  also  with  hostile  Indians,  re- 
vengeful Frenchmen,  unappreciative  English  military 
officers,  and  self-willed  frontiersmen.222 

By  the  end  of  1758,  the  Indian  policy  which  Johnson 
had  outlined  in  his  instructions  to  Croghan  on  Novem- 
ber 24,  1756,  had  thus  been  successfully  carried  out. 
France  had  lost  half  of  her  savage  allies  and  the  west- 
ern frontiers  were  relieved  from  the  scourge  of  Indian 
warfare.     Many  factors  contributed  to  this  end,  but 

222  Post's  Journal,  Oct.  25,  1758-Jan.  20,  1759,  in  Thwaites:  Early 
Western  Travels,  1,  Z34.-Z95 ;  Croghan's  Journal,  Nov.  27-Dec.  2,  1758,  in 
Pa.  Arch.,  in,  560-563  (This  journal  is  here  erroneously  ascribed  to  Post.)  ; 
idem,  571-574;  Parkman:     Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  11,  139. 


142       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

probably  no  single  individual  contributed  more  than 
did  Croghan.  With  the  fall  of  Fort  DuQuesne,  In- 
dian affairs  ceased  forever  to  be  of  immediate  impor- 
tance to  the  average  Pennsylvania  farmer  who  lived 
east  of  the  Appalachians  and  consequently  Pennsyl- 
vania practically  ceased  to  support  Croghan  finan- 
cially. Henceforth,  he  had  to  rely  on  the  imperial 
military  commanders  for  funds  and  supplies.  By  the 
capture  of  Fort  DuQuesne  the  English  had  secured 
their  first  foothold  in  the  Indian  country  between  the 
Appalachians  and  the  Mississippi.  Wolfe's  victory  at 
Quebec  and  other  English  successes  gave  them  perma- 
nent possession  of  this  vast  wilderness.  During  the 
next  few  years,  Croghan  was  called  upon  to  assist  the 
military  department  in  opening  the  Great  West  to 
English  enterprise. 


Deputy  Superintendent:    the  Occupation 
of  the  West,  175 8-1766 

The  erection  of  Fort  Pitt  in  1758  gave  to  the  English 
control  of  a  strategic  point.  For  over  one  half  a  cen- 
tury it  was  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  gateways 
to  the  West.  Two  military  roads,  Braddock's  Road 
and  Forbes's  Road,  both  cut  through  the  wilderness, 
connected  it  with  the  eastern  settlements.  In  their 
dealings  with  the  Indians,  the  commanders  at  Fort 
Pitt  were  fortunate  in  having  the  assistance  of  Croghan. 
He  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  surrounding 
region  and  with  the  natives  who  inhabited  it.  His  in- 
fluence was  now  further  increased  by  the  building  of 
"Croghan  Hall"  on  a  large  farm  four  miles  northeast 
of  Fort  Pitt.  Here  he  established  his  residence  until 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolution. 

Croghan's  field  of  operations  now  expanded  so 
greatly  that  he  could  no  longer  carry  on  the  work  by 
himself.  His  staff  came  to  include  two  assistant  agents 
at  Fort  Pitt,  one  at  Detroit,  and  one  at  Michillimacki- 
nac;  a  similar  number  of  official  interpreters,  includ- 
ing one  for  Fort  Miami ;  one  or  two  gunsmiths  for  each 
post;  several  clerks;  and  finally  a  surgeon  for  each 
post.  Altogether,  Croghan's  budget  for  these  years 
called  for  about  £1,000  for  salaries.  His  chief  assist- 
ant agents  were  Edward  Ward,  his  half-brother; 
Thomas  McKee,  an  old  Indian  trader  on  the  Susque- 
hanna; Alexander  McKee,  son  of  the  former  and  later 


144       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  be  Croghan's  successor;  and  Thomas  Hutchins.  It 
was  probably  through  his  association  with  Croghan 
and  his  group  that  Hutchins  secured  much  of  the  ma- 
terial for  his  books  on  the  topography  of  the  middle 
colonies.  One  of  Croghan's  clerks  was  a  kinsman  from 
Ireland,  Daniel  Clark,  who  afterwards  became  the 
most  prominent  American  in  New  Orleans.  He  be- 
came a  great  landowner  and  speculator  and  an  asso- 
ciate of  Aaron  Burr  and  James  Wilkinson.223 

During  the  period  1758-1763,  Croghan  spent  more 
than  half  of  his  time  at  Fort  Pitt.  Indian  problems 
focussed  at  this  place  and  from  it  expeditions  were 
sent  out  to  occupy  other  French  posts.  Numerous  con- 
ferences were  held  by  Croghan  or  his  assistants  and  the 
military  commanders  at  Fort  Pitt  with  the  Potawat- 
omi,  Ottawas,  Miami,  Wyandots,  Shawnee,  Dela- 
wares,  and  with  those  members  of  the  Six  Nations  who 
had  settled  in  the  Ohio  valley.  In  July,  1759,  Colonel 
Mercer  with  his  chief  officers  and  Croghan  with  his 
assistants  met  about  five  hundred  Indians  belongng  to 
these  tribes.  In  October,  General  Stanwix  and  Cro- 
ghan held  a  similar  meeting.  The  largest  conference 
was  held  in  August,  1760,  when  General  Monckton 
and  Croghan  met  upwards  of  a  thousand  Indians.224 

In  connection  with  these  conferences  Croghan  en- 
countered the  following  problems.  First,  grants  of 
land  had  to  be  secured  here  and  there  in  the  wilder- 
ness where  the  English  could  erect  forts  and  around 
them  have  gardens,  cornfields,  and  pastures  for  the 

223  Croghan's  Report  on  his  Staff  in  1761,  in  C.  O.,  5:  61;  Report  for 
1762,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  a  25:  230;  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson, 
in,  551,  873. 

224  Papers  relating  to  Indian  Affairs,  1750-1775,  Chalmers  Coll.;  Amherst 
to  Pitt,  May  19,  1760,  in  C.  O.,  5:  58;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vm,  382-393,  429-435; 
Pa.  Arch.,  ill,  36off.,  744-752. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  145 

needs  of  the  garrisons.  Although  the  Indians  were 
paid  in  presents  for  such  lands  and  were  assured  that 
the  rest  of  the  land  was  to  remain  theirs,  they  only  ac- 
quiesced in  a  situation  forced  upon  them. 

Again,  the  release  of  numerous  English  prisoners - 
men,  women  and  children  -  who  had  been  taken  in 
numerous  raids  between  1755  and  1758,  was  to  be  ob- 
tained. This  was  a  difficult  and  long  drawn  out  pro- 
cess. A  few  whites  desired  to  remain  among  the  sav- 
ages; the  Indians  realized  that  prisoners  served  as 
hostages,  that  they  were  a  valuable  article  to  barter  for 
rum  and  other  goods  not  easily  obtainable,  and  that 
"prices"  might  rise.  A  few  were  usually  brought  to 
each  conference  to  be  released  and  for  a  time  individ- 
ual Indians  on  visiting  Fort  Pitt  often  brought  in  a 
prisoner  or  two.  From  June,  1759,  to  October,  1761, 
Croghan  secured  the  release  of  338  prisoners.  This 
entailed  a  large  expense;  in  January,  1763,  alone,  Cro- 
ghan sent  in  bills  totaling  £380  for  this  work.  In  spite 
of  all  efforts,  there  were  still  some  captives  left  among 
the  Indians  in  1763  when  Pontiac's  uprising  broke 
out.225 

Intelligence  of  what  was  happening  in  the  wilder- 
ness beyond  Fort  Pitt  was  to  be  obtained.  This  was 
usually  done  quietly  in  informal  meetings  with  indi- 
vidual Indians.  Croghan  was  continually  sending  out 
Indian  spies.  He  also  secured  Indian  runners  who 
carried  news  and  dispatches  for  the  English  military 
officials.226 


225  Croghan  to  Johnson,  October  12,  1761,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir 
William  Johnson,  in,  549;  Croghan  to  Bouquet,  Jan.  24,  1763;  in  Bouquet 
Coll.,  a  19:  32;  idem,  45;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vm,  776;  Johnson's  instructions  to 
Croghan,  Jan.  8,  1762,  in  Br.  Museum  Add.  mss.,  21655. 

226  Monckton  to  Hamilton,  July  31,  1760,  in  Penn  mss.,  IX,  140;  Croghan 
to  Bouquet,  July  n,  1759,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  a  25:  46;  idem,  A  14:  318; 
Darlington,  Mary  C:     Fort  Pitt  and  Letters  from  the  Frontier,  112. 


146       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

The  safety  of  person  and  of  property  was  also  to 
be  secured.  It  was  impossible  to  prevent  the  occa- 
sional murders  of  both  whites  and  Indians  here  and 
there  in  the  forests  and  yet  each  murder  usually  needed 
careful  attention  lest  serious  consequences  should  de- 
velop. In  case  an  Indian  was  murdered,  condolence 
presents  had  to  be  given  with  appropriate  formalities; 
in  case  of  the  murder  of  a  white  man  by  Indians,  de- 
mands had  to  be  made  for  apprehending  the  murderers, 
though  such  demands  were  usually  futile.  One  of  the 
most  tantalizing  questions  to  be  solved  was  the  prob- 
lem of  the  horse-thief  -  an  individual  so  ubiquitous  on 
the  American  frontier.  At  Fort  Pitt  during  this 
period  packhorses  and  draft-horses  were  always  nu- 
merous and  important.  After  their  hard  trip  over  the 
mountains  they  were  often  turned  loose  to  graze  and 
recuperate.  They  were  a  great  temptation  to  the 
Indians  who  stole  them.  The  military  officials  ex- 
pected Croghan  to  prevent  this.  The  old  chiefs 
usually  told  him  that  young  warriors,  over  whom  they 
had  no  control,  were  responsible.227 

Moreover,  provisions  had  to  be  furnished  to  needy 
Indians  and  to  the  numerous  Indians  that  came  for 
conferences.  An  Indian  usually  expected  double  the 
ration  furnished  to  an  English  soldier.  Bouquet  and 
Stanwix  had  the  greatest  difficulty  to  keep  the  gar- 
risons west  of  Philadelphia  supplied  with  provisions, 
ammunition,  and  clothing.  The  newly  cut  roads 
crossed  mountain  range  after  mountain  range  and 
passed  through  a  primeval  forest.  Wagons  could  be 
secured  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  and  after  they 
were  secured,  the  roads  proved  so  difficult  that  pack- 
horses  were  preferable  in  many  places.     Flour,  meat, 

227  Johnson  mss.,  vi,  188;  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  ser.,  ix,  247-412,  passim. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  147 

and  ammunition  were  often  spoiled  by  the  weather  dur- 
ing transportation.  It  was  difficult  to  drive  cattle 
through  the  virgin  forests.  All  supplies  were  con- 
voyed, but  this  did  not  prevent  costly  attacks  by  hostile 
bands  of  Indians.  Consequently,  the  magazines  at 
Fort  Pitt  were  seldom  well  stocked.  In  July,  1759, 
Croghan  wrote  Denny  that  for  several  days  they  "had 
neither  Flower,  Meat  or  Salt,  except  some  Milk  Cows 
which  some  Country  People  brought  here  to  sell  their 
Milk;  we  have  as  many  left  as  will  serve  us  two  days, 
and  then  we  must  begin  upon  our  Horses.  .  ."  For- 
tunately a  convoy  soon  arrived.228 

The  demand  for  provisions  for  the  Indians  was 
great.  Two  months  after  the  fall  of  Fort  DuQuesne, 
Colonel  Mercer  wrote  that  the  savages  "come  in 
Shoals  every  Day,  to  live  upon  us,  pretending  the  ut- 
most Friendship."  A  few  months  later  he  wrote: 
"We  hear  of  a  Number  of  Distant  Tribes  being  at 
Hand  upon  their  first  Visit,  so  that  there  is  no  appear- 
ance of  our  being  able  to  avoid  a  vast  expense  of  Pro- 
visions. .  .  [We]  can  scarcely  save  an  ounce  be- 
tween convoys."  In  the  spring  of  1761,  Croghan's  re- 
quests for  rations  had  to  be  declined  almost  daily.  The 
demand  did  not  cease;  Captain  Ecuyer,  the  new  com- 
mandant at  Fort  Pitt,  wrote  to  Bouquet  in  1763: 
".  .  .  think,  that  during  one  month  Mr.  Croghan 
has  drawn  17,000  pounds,  as  much  flour  as  beef;  that 
makes  one  tremble."  229 

The  military  officials  were  confronted  with  a  vicious 
circle.     Because  garrisons  were  small,  the  Indians  had 

228  Croghan  to  Gates,  May  25,  1759,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  a  14:  249;  Crog- 
ghan  to  Denny,  July  15,  1759,  in  Pa.  Arch.,  m,  672;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  win,  377. 

229  Mercer  to  Denny,  Jan.  8  and  Aug.  6,  1759,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vm, 
292  and  391,  respectively;  idem,  294,  377;  Ecuyer  to  Bouquet,  Apr.  23,  1763, 
in  Darlington:      Fort  Pitt  and  Letters  from  the  Frontier,  123. 


148       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  be  kept  in  good  humor;  their  requests  for  provisions 
could  not  be  denied;  their  consumption  of  provisions, 
in  turn,  hindered  the  strengthening  of  the  garrisons. 
Gradually,  however,  the  military  leaders  curtailed  sup- 
plies for  the  Indians  and  adopted  a  new  attitude.  The 
French  had  always  welcomed  the  Indians  at  the  posts 
and  overlooked  the  inconveniences  caused  by  their 
presence.  The  English  now  began  to  receive  them 
coldly  and  with  contempt.  This  reflected  itself  in 
their  attitude  toward  Croghan.  Bouquet  wrote  to 
Amherst  in  1762:  "Our  Indian  Agents  are  a  kind  of 
Load  Stone  attracting  the  Indians,  who  reciprocally 
attract  Presents,  for  when  they  are  absent  the  Savages 
disappear,  and  the  expence  cease;  after  all  in  several 
cases  we  cannot  do  without  them,  but  if  any  address  is 
required  it  consists  rather  I  think  in  managing  the 
managers  than  the  Indians."  It  was  natural  that  the 
English  officers  should  take  this  point  of  view,  but  it 
was  unfortunate,  for  it  helped  to  bring  on  the  storm 
that  was  to  break  upon  the  frontiers  in  1763.230 

Finally,  the  greatest  problem  of  all  concerned  the 
resumption  of  trade.  Peter  Wraxall,  New  York's 
faithful  Indian  Secretary,  wrote:  "The  Indians  fre- 
quently repeat  that  Trade  was  the  foundation  of  their 
Alliance  or  Connexions  with  us  and  that  it  is  the  chief 
Cement  which  binds  us  together.  And  this  should 
undoubtedly  be  the  first  Principle  of  our  whole  System 
of  Indian  Politics."  231  It  was  absolutely  essential  that 
the  English  supply  the  needs  of  the  Ohio  tribes  in  a 
just  and  fair  manner;  if  they  failed  in  this,  then  the 

230  Bouquet  to  Amherst,  May  24,  1762,  in  Mich.  Pioneer  and  Hist.  Coll., 
XIX,  144. 

231  Mcllwain,  Charles  H.:  Wraxall' s  Abridgment  of  Indian  Affairs, 
153. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  149 

savages  would  turn  to  the  French  and  Spanish  traders 
who  operated  from  New  Orleans  and  the  Illinois  coun- 
try and  who  could  easily  come  up  the  rivers  of  the  Ohio 
valley.  Johnson,  Stuart,  and  Croghan  thought  of  the 
Indian  trade  primarily  in  terms  of  its  political  rela- 
tions. They  sought  its  extension  even  where  profits 
were  small.  The  English  statesmen  and  merchants 
considered  primarily  the  commercial  value  of  this 
trade.  A  rough  estimate  by  Johnson  of  the  annual 
value  of  the  Indian  trade  in  the  Northern  District 
places  it  at  about  £180,000  sterling.232 

Imperial  officials  and  colonial  traders  desired  to 
reopen  the  Indian  trade.  The  settlers  living  on  the 
frontiers  viewed  such  action  with  misgivings,  espec- 
ially when  they  saw  guns  and  ammunition  passing 
westward.  The  Indians  at  almost  every  conference 
importunately  asked  for  the  immediate  reopening  of 
trade.  A  Delaware  chief  addressed  the  conference  at 
Fort  Pitt  in  August,  1760,  as  follows:  "Brother,  take 
pitty  on  Our  Women,  Children  and  Warriors,  we  are 
a  poor  people,  and  cannot  Live  without  your  Assis- 
tance; let  a  Fair  and  Open  Trade  be  continued  to  be 
Carry'd  on  by  your  People  amongst  Us."  Before  re- 
opening trade  the  English  tried  to  prevent  the  return 
of  abuses  which  had  done  so  much  to  alienate  the 
Indians.  The  French  system  of  granting  monopolies 
for  small  regions  was  swept  aside  and  the  West  was 
now  opened  to  all  licensed  English  traders.  These 
were  often  the  only  Englishmen  by  whom  the  Indians 
could  judge  English  rule.  Marty  of  the  old  English 
traders  had  been  killed  or  had  found  other  work. 
With   the   exception   of   a   few  men   like  Alexander 

232///.    Hist.    Coll.,   X,    336. 


150       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Henry,  the  new  recruits,  like  their  predecessors,  were 
abandoned  wretches.  Moreover,  they  had  to  learn  the 
Indian  languages  and  customs.233 

Few  colonies  took  a  greater  interest  in  the  new  possi- 
bilities for  trade  than  did  Pennsylvania.  Her  agent  in 
London,  Richard  Jackson,  wrote  in  1766:  "no  Colony 
has  sent  more  Traders  among  the  Indians  than  Penn- 
sylvania. .  ."  For  this  reason,  Croghan  was  ordered 
by  Colonel  Stanwix  to  send  Governor  Denny  copies  of 
the  minutes  of  all  conferences  held  at  Fort  Pitt.  Dur- 
ing the  period  from  1758  to  1765,  Pennsylvania  granted 
no  licenses  to  trade  beyond  the  Appalachians,  but  for- 
bade it  under  heavy  penalty.  Instead,  it  was  planned 
to  have  the  Indians  come  to  a  few  trading  posts  man- 
aged by  the  province  under  the  act  of  1758.  In  1759, 
such  a  post  was  established  at  Fort  Pitt.  The  way  in 
which  this  socialistic  system  worked  at  Fort  Pitt  is 
typical  in  many  ways  of  government  trading  posts.234 

233  Pa.  Arch.,  in,  747;  Gage  to  Amherst,  Mar.  20,  1762,  in  Bd.  of  Tr. 
Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xvm,  63;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  961.  The  follow- 
ing quotation  from  the  contemporary  tragedy  Ponteach  by  Robert  Rogers, 
page  180,  is  illustrative: 

"A  thousand  Opportunities  present 

To  take  Advantage  of  their  Ignorance; 

But  the  great  Engine  I  employ  is  Rum, 

More  pow'rful  made  by  certain  strengthening  Drugs, 

This  I  distribute  with  a  lib'ral  Hand, 

Urge  them  to  drink  till  they  grow  mad  and  valiant; 

Which  makes  them  think  me  generous  and  just, 

And  gives  full  Scope  to  practise  all  my  Art. 

I  then  begin  my  Trade  with  water'd  Rum, 

The  cooling  Draught  well  suits  their  scorching  Throats. 

Their  Fur   and   Peltry  come  in  quick  Return; 

My  Scales  are  honest,  but  so  well  contriv'd, 

That  one  small  Slip  will  turn  Three  Pounds  to  One; 

Which  they,  poor  silly  Souls!  ignorant  of  Weights 

And  Rules  of  Balancing,  do  not  perceive." 
234  C.  O.,  5:  67;  ///.  Hist.  Coll,  xi,  429;  Pa.  Arch.,  v,  584,  697.     Massa- 
chusetts  had    succeeded    in    eliminating  most   of   the    abuses   in   the    Indian 
trade  within  her  jurisdiction  by  establishing  "truck-houses"  at  Fort  Pownall 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  151 

The  agents  in  charge  of  this  post,  especially  the 
Quaker,  James  Kenny,  came  into  continual  conflict  with 
Croghan,  with  unlicensed  traders,  and  with  the  private 
traders  licensed  by  imperial  military  or  Indian  officials. 
The  largest  private  trading  house  was  that  established 
by  Croghan's  old  associates,  William  Trent,  Joseph 
Simon,  David  Franks,  and  Levi  Andrew  Levy.  They 
had  formed  a  partnership  in  1760  which  lasted  for  nine 
years.  Indians  who  came  with  peltry  to  Fort  Pitt  were 
often  directed  by  Croghan  to  this  trading  house.  In- 
dians would  frequently  take  their  peltry  to  both  the 
provincial  store  and  to  the  store  kept  by  Trent  in  search 
of  the  best  bargain.  This  resulted  in  a  bitter  compe- 
tition. Private  traders  had  the  advantage  of  being 
able  to  grant  credit  to  the  Indians  and  of  knowing 
their  languages  better  than  the  provincial  agents.  The 
latter  held  Croghan  responsible  for  many  of  their 
troubles.  They  objected  to  Croghan's  power  to  license 
traders.  When  the  Indians  complained  of  high  prices 
and  Croghan  secured  a  modification  by  mutual  agree- 
ment, the  provincial  agents  accused  him  of  altering  the 
prices  set  by  military  officers.  The  sale  of  liquor  also 
caused  ill-feeling.  For  a  time  no  private  trader  could 
sell  liquor  without  a  permit  from  Croghan,  but  the 
provincial  agent  could  sell  it  as  he  pleased.  Croghan 
urged  Johnson  to  expose  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Quakers 
for  having  by  law  for  fifty  years  forbidden  the  sale  of 

on  the  Penobscot  and  Fort  Halifax  on  the  Kennebec.  No  profit  was  made 
by  the  government.  Prices  were  set  in  Boston  and  the  truckmasters  were 
allowed  a  commission  of  five  per  cent.  One  sloop  was  kept  for  this  trade.- 
Report  of  Gov.  Bernard  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  1764,  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap., 
Plantations  General,  xxn,  23.  Semi-public  trading  posts  had  been  established 
in  South  Carolina  and  also  in  Virginia  before  Bacon's  Rebellion.  These 
colonial  experiences  probably  suggested  to  President  Washington  the  policy 
of  establishing  federal  government  trading  houses.  The  act  establishing 
such  houses  was  passed  in  1796  and  repealed  in  1822. 


152       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

liquor  to  the  Indians  and  now  selling  it  officially  in 
large  quantities.235 

In  1759  and  1760,  the  Indians  brought  in  great 
quantities  of  skins  and  furs,  only  to  be  disappointed 
because  the  English  were  not  prepared  to  take  all  of 
them.  Soon,  however,  the  Indian  trade  was  again  in 
full  swing.  Trent  and  Simon  were  sending  wagon 
loads  of  furs  and  skins  to  Philadelphia.  Thomas 
Smallman,  Croghan's  cousin,  was  busily  engaged 
around  Lower  Shawnee  Town  with  several  men  and 
more  than  twenty  packhorses.  The  English  traders 
were  once  more  scattered  throughout  the  forests  of 
the  upper  Ohio  region.236 

The  final  authority  to  regulate  the  Indian  trade  in 
the  West  was  vested  in  the  commander-in-chief.  John- 
son and  Croghan,  the  military  commanders,  and  the 
provincial  governors  could  issue  licenses  to  trade,  but 
the  regulations  for  trade  were  given  out  as  military 
orders  and  the  local  commanders  helped  to  enforce 
them.  In  1761,  Johnson,  with  the  approbation  of  Am- 
herst, drew  up  price  lists  for  each  of  the  western  posts. 
He  forbade  the  purchasing  of  horses  or  bells  from  the 
Indians  and  restricted  the  sale  of  liquor  and  ammuni- 
tion. Croghan  was  expected  to  help  enforce  these 
regulations.  Contrary  to  the  advice  of  Johnson,  Am- 
herst in  1762,  forbade  any  trade  in  rum  and  limited 
the  sale  of  ammunition  to  such  an  extent  that  much 
suffering  resulted  among  the  Indians.  They  com- 
plained of  the  shortage  in  many  conferences  and  even 

235  Henry,  Alexander:  Travels  and  Adventures,  192;  Gratz  Pap.,  1st 
ser.,  iv,  8;  Bouquet  Coll.,  A  16:  19,  a  4:  128,  a  25:  75  and  A14:  398;  Journal 
of  James  Kenny,  1761-1763,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxxvii,  1-47, 
152-202  and  395-449,  passim;  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in, 
301. 

236  Simon  to  B.  Gratz,  Aug.  17,  and  Aug.  29,  1762,  and  Smallman  to 
John  Harris,  Mar.  4,  1763,  in  McAllister  Coll. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 53 

the  Iroquois  grew  restless.  The  Ohio  tribes  began  to 
fear  that  the  English  were  preparing  to  make  war 
upon  them.  Thus,  the  abuses,  restrictions,  and  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  Indian  trade  contributed  to  cause  an 
Indian  outbreak.237 

Such  were  the  problems  with  which  Croghan  had 
to  deal  at  Fort  Pitt  from  1758  to  1763.  In  the  region 
north  and  west  of  this  fort  his  chief  duty  was  to  assist 
in  the  occupation  of  the  other  French  forts.  Until 
the  fall  of  Fort  Niagara  in  July,  1759,  the  small  Eng- 
lish garrison  at  Fort  Pitt  was  in  a  precarious  situation. 
No  strong  fortifications  were  erected  here  for  more 
than  a  year  and  the  English  convoys  of  supplies  were 
frequently  attacked  by  parties  of  French  and  Indians 
sent  out  from  Fort  Venango.  Vaudreuil  planned  to 
bring  to  the  upper  Ohio  all  the  French  militia  from 
Illinois  and  Detroit  with  numerous  western  Indians 
to  retake  Fort  Pitt.  As  reports  of  these  preparations 
kept  coming  to  Croghan  from  his  Indian  spies  he  re- 
doubled his  efforts  to  maintain  the  friendship  of  the 
Ohio  Indians.  The  situation  was  not  relieved  until 
the  capture  of  Niagara  forced  the  French  to  abandon 
Forts  Venango,  Le  Beouf,  and  Presque  Isle.238 

In  July,  1760,  Bouquet  and  Mercer,  accompanied 
by  Croghan  and  his  assistants,  moved  northward  from 
Fort  Pitt  to  occupy  the  abandoned  forts.  Croghan 
visited  the  Indian  villages  along  the  route  and  ac- 
quainted the  natives  with  the  purposes  of  the  expedi- 
tion, asked  them  to  assist  the  English,  and  invited  them 

237  Johnson's  Regulations,  1761,  in  Br.  Museum  Add.  mss.,  21655;  Am- 
herst to  Bouquet,  Jan.  16,  1762,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  a  4:  83-1;  Sullivan: 
Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in,  597. 

238  Papers  relating  to  Indian  Affairs,  1750-1775,  Chalmers  Coll.;  Croghan 
to  Bouquet,  July  11,  1759,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A  25:  46;  idem,  A  14:  249; 
Bouquet  to  Mercer,  May  8,  1759,  in  idem,  a  22:  118;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  x, 
952;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  vm,  393-396. 


154       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  Fort  Pitt  to  renew  peaceful  relations  and  to  receive 
presents.  The  expedition  was  watched  by  Indian 
spies  sent  from  Detroit,  but  it  accomplished  its  pur- 
poses without  any  losses.  "The  Indians  are  in  good 
humor,  and  Croghan  takes  Pains  to  keep  them  so," 
wrote  Bouquet  to  Monckton. 

The  occupation  of  the  important  French  fort  and 
town  of  Detroit  was  more  difficult.  Croghan  pre- 
pared the  natives  for  it  by  sending  Indian  emissaries 
from  Fort  Pitt  to  the  tribes  around  Detroit  months 
before  the  English  army  started.  On  October  21, 
1760,  Croghan  again  left  Fort  Pitt  with  a  band  of 
friendly  Indians  for  Presque  Isle.  Here  he  joined 
the  expedition  under  Major  Robert  Rogers  which  was 
to  occupy  Detroit.  The  French  and  Indians  at  Detroit 
had  been  good  neighbors  as  long  as  the  Indians  living 
in  1760  could  remember.  It  was,  therefore,  with  great 
alarm  and  confusion  that  the  savages  heard  of  the 
coming  of  Rogers.  Whenever  the  expedition  stopped, 
Croghan  assembled  the  neighboring  Indians  in  order 
to  establish  friendly  relations.  At  one  conference  he 
met  the  Ottawa  chief,  Pontiac,  then  of  no  special  prom- 
inence. The  fact  that  Croghan  had  traded  here  in 
years  past  helped  to  prevent  attacks.  Upon  one  occa- 
sion, Croghan  wrote  in  his  journal  that  they  met  some 
Ottawa  Indians  "who  received  us  very  kindly  they 
being  old  Acquaintances  of  mine."  Near  Sandusky 
Bay,  the  deputies  whom  Croghan  had  dispatched  to 
Detroit  brought  delegations  from  the  Wyandots,  Ot- 
tawas  and  Potawatomi  to  meet  the  English.  A  formal 
conference  followed,  in  which  the  Indians  promised 
to  be  friendly,  to  return  their  English  prisoners,  and 
to  furnish  deputies  to  accompany  Rogers  to  Michilli- 
mackinac.     The  English  agreed  to  reopen  trade  and 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 55 

presented  gifts.  Detroit  was  soon  reached  and  occu- 
pied. Another  Indian  conference  was  held  similar  to 
the  previous  one.  From  Detroit  a  detachment  was 
sent  to  occupy  Fort  Miami  on  the  Maumee.  It  was 
accompanied  by  an  interpreter  whom  Croghan  had 
provided  with  instructions,  speeches,  wampum,  and 
presents.  When  Rogers  set  out  to  occupy  Michilli- 
mackinac,  Croghan  assisted  him  in  the  same  way. 
Winter,  however,  forced  his  return  and  this  post  was 
not  occupied  till  1761.  Croghan  with  a  few  Indians 
and  whites  returned  by  canoe  to  Sandusky  Bay.  From 
here  they  proceeded  on  horseback  along  the  "Great 
Trail"  and  arrived  at  Fort  Pitt  on  January  7,  1761. 
"The  Western  Indians  would  never  have  suffered  us 
to  take  possession  of  Detroit  but  from  the  precaution 
I  took  in  sending  Mr.  Croghan  to  prepare  them  for  it," 
wrote  Johnson.239 

Mutterings  of  discontent  among  the  western  Indians, 
the  discovery  of  a  plot  to  attack  Detroit,  Niagara,  and 
Pittsburg  simultaneously,  and  the  desire  to  gain  first 
hand  detailed  information  caused  Johnson  in  1761,  to 
decide  to  visit  Detroit  in  person  with  a  large  Iroquois 
delegation.  In  order  to  prepare  an  impressive  entry 
"for  Johnson,  Croghan  left  Fort  Pitt  accompanied  by  a 
delegation  of  Delaware  and  Shawnee  Indians  who 
helped  to  bring  up  the  cattle  and  presents.  On  the 
way  he  studied  the  causes  of  discontent,  selected  the 
site  for  Fort  Sandusky,  and  prepared  the  Indians  for 
its  erection.     Johnson  arrived  at  Detroit  on  Septem- 

239  Croghan's  Journals,  July  7-Aug.  31,  1760  and  Oct.  21,  1760-Jan.  7, 
1761,  with  related  documents,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  ser.,  ix;  Hough, 
Franklin  B.:  Journals  of  Major  Robert  Rogers,  184,  186;  Johnson  to  Gage, 
June  9,  1764,  in  77/.  Hist.  Coll.,  X,  263.  Parkman's  highly  colored  picture 
of  the  meeting  with  Pontiac  in  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  l,  165,  is  based 
upon  Roger's  Concise  Account  of  North  America,  written  in  1765.  The 
entry  in  Croghan's  contemporary  journal  is  doubtless  truer  to  the  actual  facts. 


156       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ber  3,  1761.  During  the  ensuing  days  a  conference 
was  held  with  the  Potawatomi,  Wyandots,  Chippewas, 
Ottawas,  representatives  from  the  tribes  around  Lake 
Superior,  Delawares,  Shawnee,  and  Iroquois.  So 
many  were  present  that  Johnson,  Croghan,  and  Captain 
Campbell  held  the  meetings  in  the  open  air.  The  cer- 
emonies were  long  and  accompanied  by  lengthy 
speeches,  wampum  belts,  and  glasses  of  rum,  but  in  the 
end  friendly  relations  were  again  declared,  better  trad- 
ing facilities  were  promised,  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  the  occupation  of  the  far  distant  posts. 
Large  presents  including  150  silver  ear  bobs,  200  silver 
broches,  and  90  crosses  were  then  distributed.  John- 
son left  on  September  17;  Croghan  accompanied  him 
as  far  as  Sandusky  Bay  and  then  again  returned  to 
Fort  Pitt.240 

By  1762,  English  garrisons  had  been  established  at 
Pittsburg,  Venango,  Le  Boeuf,  Presque  Isle,  Niagara, 
Sandusky,  Detroit,  Miami,  Michillimackinac,  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  St.  Joseph,  and  Green  Bay.  At  this  time 
England  was  following  the  expensive  policy  of  main- 
taining in  the  conquered  region  numerous  forts  scat- 
tered from  Florida  to  Illinois  and  Canada,  in  order 
to  hold  in  subjection  the  new  French  and  Spanish  sub- 
jects, to  overawe  the  natives  and  secure  their  trade,  and 
to  encourage  colonization  in  the  West.  This  policy 
was  pregnant  with  unseen  results.  It  led  first,  to  at- 
tempts to  tax  the  colonies,  then  to  revised  plans  for 
colonization  and  Indian  trade,  and  finally,  to  the 
abandonment  of  nearly  all  of  the  inland  posts.  Each 
of  these  posts  was  surrounded  by  vast  primeval  forests. 

240  James  Kenny's  Journal,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxxvn,  15; 
Stone:  Life  and  Times  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  11,  145;  Johnson's  diary, 
1761,  in  idem,  441-468;  Mich.  Pioneer  and  Hist.  Coll.,  xix,  85;  Sir  William 
Johnson's  Indian  Conferences,  1761-1763,  mss.  in  N.Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Library. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 57 

The  smaller  posts  were  garrisoned  by  from  fourteen 
to  twenty-five  men  under  the  command  of  a  minor 
officer.  Life  for  them  in  their  isolated  forts  was  most 
monotonous  and  they  were  practically  at  the  mercy  of 
the  savages.  To  reach  the  nearest  English  settlements 
they  had  to  travel  hundreds  of  miles  through  the  wild- 
erness and  cross  the  Appalachians.  Croghan  now 
planned  to  keep  one  of  his  assistants  traveling  from 
fort  to  fort  to  transact  such  business  as  was  necessary 
and  appointed  Thomas  Hutchins  for  this  task.  The 
French  were  still  in  control  of  Vincennes  on  the  Wa- 
bash River  and  of  the  entire  Illinois  country.  Bouquet 
planned  to  go  down  the  Ohio  early  in  1763  to  complete 
the  occupation  of  the  West.  He  asked  Croghan  to 
accompany  him,  but  Croghan  declined  because  of  his 
proposed  trip  to  England  and  because  Amherst  would 
not  supply  the  necessary  quantity  of  Indian  presents. 
The  English  were  not  aware  that  at  this  very  time 
Pontiac  was  secretly  marshalling  his  forces  for  an  at- 
tack which  was  to  force  a  long  postponement  of  Bou- 
quet's plans.241 

With  the  exception  of  short  trips  to  Philadelphia 
early  in  1759  and  to  New  York  in  1761,  Croghan  re- 
mained away  from  civilization  for  about  three  years. 
He  longed  to  return  east  and  wrote  Johnson  to  "plese 
to  Lett  [me]  know  whether  your  honour  Intends  to 
keep  Me  heer  Till  I  grow  Gray."  Early  in  1762,  he 
was  called  to  Bedford  to  see  his  dying  mother;  he  re- 
mained in  the  east  during  the  entire  summer  of  1762. 
In  June  he  assisted  Johnson  in  an  Indian  conference 
at  Easton.     This  was  the  fourth  conference  held  at 

241  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  31,  1762,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir 
William  Johnson,  in,  662;  Croghan's  Instructions  to  Hutchins,  Apr.  3,  1762, 
in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A  25:  216;  Croghan  to  Bouquet,  Mar.  19,  1763,  (two 
letters)  in  idem,  a  19:  98,  101. 


158       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

this  place  since  1756  and  it  did  not  differ  materially 
from  the  earlier  ones.  Shortly  after  this  conference, 
Teedyuscung  withdrew  his  charges  of  land  frauds  and 
in  return  was  paid  £400  by  the  Penns.242 

In  August,  1762,  Croghan  managed  the  Indian  con- 
ference at  Lancaster.  Pennsylvania's  repeated  invita- 
tions to  the  Ohio  Indians  had  been  finally  accepted; 
representatives  of  the  Delawares,  Shawnee,  Miami, 
Kickapoo,  Wea,  and  Six  Nations  came  and  brought 
thirty  white  prisoners  to  be  released.  Five  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  Indians  from  the  upper  Susquehanna 
region  were  also  present.  Governor  Hamilton,  a  com- 
mittee of  the  assembly,  and  the  usual  group  of  Quakers 
came  to  meet  them.  Croghan  went  to  Fort  Lyttleton 
to  assist  Post  in  conducting  the  Indians  and  to  secure 
agreements  before  the  Quakers  could  influence  the 
Indians.  Johnson,  fresh  from  his  own  experience  at 
Easton,  felt  elated  to  hear  that  Croghan  had  success- 
fully combatted  the  Quaker  attempt  "to  exercise  cor- 
rupt and  illegal  influence  over  Indian  affairs."  The 
usual  topics  were  discussed,  peace  was  formally  re- 
newed, and  presents  valued  at  £2,000  were  distributed. 
Upon  leaving,  some  of  the  Indians  threw  away  their 
presents.  This  was  a  significant  manifestation  of  their 
discontent  which  was  soon  to  find  expression  in  revolt. 
After  this  conference  Croghan  returned  to  Fort  Pitt.243 

After  1 76 1,  serious  friction  arose  between  Croghan 
and  his  military  superiors  over  the  question  of  expendi- 
tures.    Practically  all  of  his  expenses  were  now  paid 

242  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Jan.  13,  1761,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William 
Johnson,  in,  301;  Mich.  Pioneer  and  Hist.  Coll.,  xix,  144;  Acts  of  the  Privy 
Council,  Colonial  Ser.,  Unbound  Papers,  343. 

243  Minutes  of  the  Conference  at  Lancaster,  1762,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  will, 
721-774;  idem,  676,  690;  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  ill,  873; 
Johnson  to  Croghan,  Dec.  30,  1762,  in  Johnson  mss.,  vi,  188;  Croghan  to 
,  July  31,  1763,  ms.  in  N.Y.  Pub.  Lib. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 59 

out  of  Amherst's  military  funds;  salaries  were  paid 
through  Johnson  and  other  bills  through  the  military 
commanders  at  the  posts.  This  consumed  time  and 
often  forced  Croghan  to  advance  his  own  money  or 
credit  for  the  department.  Within  certain  limits  Cro- 
ghan could  incur  such  expenses  as  he  thought  necessary 
and  this  accounted  in  part  for  his  successes.  "An  In- 
dian Agent,"  wrote  Johnson,  "cannot  support  his  Con- 
sequence or  be  of  so  much  use  if  it  is  not  in  his  power 
to  bestow  favors  upon  them,  because  the  Indians  never 
can  believe  a  man  to  be  of  Consequence,  or  that  he  has 
proper  Authority  unless  it  is  in  his  power  to  shew 
them  kindness  as  they  call  it."  244 

In  1760,  Canada  was  completely  conquered  and 
George  II  was  succeeded  by  George  III;  soon  the 
great  war  minister,  William  Pitt,  was  displaced  by 
Lord  Bute.  Amherst  was  now  asked  to  curtail  expen- 
ditures. He  soon  ceased  to  follow  Johnson's  advice  and 
began  to  view  all  Indian  expenditures  with  disfavor. 
During  1761,  Croghan's  expenditures  were  especially 
heavy.  He  presented  his  accounts  amounting  to  £4,400 
in  person  to  Amherst  at  New  York  in  December,  1761. 

244  Johnson  to  Gage,  Mar.  15,  1766,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  189.  What 
Johnson  meant  by  "kindness"  is  illustrated  by  the  following  entries  in  his 
"Expense  Account  to  October,  1756",  given  in  C.  O.,  5:  1067: 

£        s         d 

To  an  old  blind  Indian  to  buy  some  bread  020 

To  a  Tuscarora  Warrior,   Cost  to  buy  something  for  his 

Sick  Wife  080 

To  an  Indian  3  Dollars  for  a  Gun  140 

To  an  Oneida  Indian  going  to  War  for  his  family  3  Dollars  140 
To  a  poor  Squaw  lost  her  husband  viz.  Thomas  at  the  Lake  080 
To  2  Mohawk  Inds  who  lost  2  Horses  by  the  44  Regmt. 

They  were  shott.     To  make  them  easy  080 

To   a   Doctor   for  curing   a  young   Ind's   hand   which  was 

shott   by   Accident   9       15         6 

To   an  Entertainment  given   to  4   Mohawk   Familys  come 

from  Ohio  to  settle  at  the  Mohawk  3       17        6 


160       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

To  Amherst  they  seemed  to  "amount  to  a  prodigious  ex- 
pense," and  he  refused  to  pay  them  until  Croghan 
took  them  to  Johnson  for  approval.  For  the  next  half 
year,  Croghan  submitted  an  account  of  £317,  exclusive 
of  salaries.  Even  this  Amherst  thought  too  much, 
though  it  was  certified  by  Bouquet.245  Among  other 
economies,  Amherst  now  forbade  giving  guns,  ammuni- 
tion, knives,  vermillion,  and  food  to  northern  warriors 
passing  Fort  Pitt  on  their  way  to  attack  southern  In- 
dians. This  perennial  warfare  was  encouraged  by 
Johnson  and  Croghan  for,  without  harm  to  the  Eng- 
lish, it  gave  turbulent  young  braves  in  both  districts  the 
diversion  from  hunting  which  they  demanded.  During 
the  Cherokee  war  against  Carolina  in  1760,  Croghan 
had  advanced  his  own  money  to  equip  one  hundred  war- 
riors to  send  southward.  After  Amherst's  new  orders, 
northern  warriors  passing  Fort  Pitt,  when  refused  sup- 
plies, showed  such  ill  temper  that  Croghan,  rather  than 
see  the  service  suffer,  used  his  salary  to  buy  them  small 
presents.  "I  Can  say  Now  I  Serve  the  King  for  noth- 
ing    .     .     .",  he  wrote  to  Johnson  in  1763.2*6 

Amhersts's  zeal  for  economy  grew  apace.  Croghan 
was  instructed  to  "retrench  all  Indian  expences,  and 
make  use  of  all  the  Oconemy  which  the  good  of  the 
Sirvice  will  in  any  wise  admit  of.  .  ."  His  budget 
for  salaries  was  cut  forty  per  cent  in  1762.  Instead  of 
securing  the  release  of  captives  by  paying  for  them, 
Amherst  ordered  the  suppression  of  all  presents  until 
after  they  had  been  released.     "As  to  appropriating 

245  Amherst  to  Bouquet,  Jan.  16,  1762,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A4.:83-i; 
Amherst  to  Johnson,  Dec.  30,  1761,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William 
Johnson,  111,  597. 

246  Johnson  to  Stuart,  Sept.  17,  1765,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations 
General,  xxv,  623;  Pa.  Arch.,  in,  733;  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  31,  1762 
and  May  10,  1762,  in  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in,  662, 
732;  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  12,  1763,  MS.  in  Newberry  Library,  Chicago. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  l6l 

a  particular  sum  to  be  laid  out  yearly  to  the  warriors 
in  presents,  etc.,  that  I  can  by  no  means  agree  to," 
wrote  Amherst;  "nor  can  I  think  it  necessary  to  give 
them  any  presents  by  way  of  Bribes,  for  if  they  do  not 
behave  properly  they  are  to  be  punished."  As  an  ad- 
ditional check  on  Croghan,  Amherst  forbade  Indian 
agents  to  incur  any  expenses  except  upon  the  written 
orders  of  the  commandants  at  the  posts.  Croghan  was 
now  thoroughly  disgusted.  He  wrote  to  Johnson  that 
he  had  done  all  he  could  to  serve  his  King  as  frugally 
as  possible,  but  that  for  the  future  he  would  never  incur 
even  the  smallest  expense  without  a  written  order,  no 
matter  what  happened.  The  most  intelligent  Indians 
now  began  to  ask  Croghan  why  the  English  had  repeat- 
edly called  them  into  council  and  given  them  presents 
during  the  war,  but  since  were  ignoring  them.  Cro- 
ghan wrote  to  Bouquet:  ".  .  .  I  do  nott  aprove 
of  General  Amhersts  plan  in  Distressing  them  too  much 
although  as  in  my  opinion  they  will  not  consider  con- 
sequences if  too  much  distrest  tho'  Sir  Jeffrey  thinks 
they  will.  How  itt  may  end  the  Lord  knows  Butt  I 
ashure  you  I  am  of  opinion  itt  will  nott  be  long  before 
we  shall  have  some  [quarrels]  with  them."  247 

From  Amherst's  point  of  view  it  was  not  consistent 
with  the  financial  condition  or  the  dignity  of  England 
to  adopt  the  policy  of  the  defeated  Bourbon  enemy,  es- 
pecially when  it  could  not  insure  the  friendship  of  the 
Indians  for  any  length  of  time.  He  saw  no  need  of 
calling  the  Indians  into  conference  in  1763  and  giving 

247  Johnson's  Instructions  to  Croghan,  Jan.  8,  1762,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A25: 
2ii ;  idem,  A4:i40,  A4:83~i;  Parkman:  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  1,  174 
note;  Sullivan:  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in,  732;  Croghan  to 
Bouquet,  Dec.  10,  1762  and  Mar.  19,  1763,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A18-2:  534  and 
A19:  98,  respectively.  Parkman  in  quoting  Croghan  usually  corrects  his 
spelling  and  English.  Parkman's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  is  the  classic  account 
for  this  period. 


1 62       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

them  presents  in  order  to  properly  announce  to  them 
the  terms  of  the  peace  of  1763  and  thus  prevent  the 
French  traders  from  spreading  false  impressions.248 
Croghan  wrote  at  this  time:  "Since  the  Reduction  of 
Canada  the  several  Indian  Nations  .  .  .  has  been 
very  jelous  of  his  Majesty's  growing  power  in  this 
country  Butt  this  last  Account  of  so  much  of  North 
America  being  ceded  to  Great  Britain  has  allmost  drove 
them  to  despair."  ".  .  .  they  .  .  .  say  the 
French  had  no  right  to  give  away  their  country."  To 
this  Amherst  replied :  "whatever  idle  notions  they  may 
entertain  in  regard  to  the  cessions  made  by  the  French 
Crown,  can  be  of  very  little  consequence,  as  it  is  their 
interest  to  behave  peaceably,  and  while  they  continue 
to  do  so  they  may  be  assured  of  His  Majesty's  Pro- 
tection." This  blustering  and  arrogant  reply  was 
written  only  a  few  weeks  before  news  came  out  of  the 
West  which  was  to  show  Amherst  that  to  follow  a 
policy  based  on  military  force  was  not  a  simple  matter 
in  dealing  with  a  foe  possessed  of  no  forts,  or  towns,  or 
valuable  property,  and  who  in  the  tangled  woods  was  as 
alert  and  active  as  a  lynx.  It  was  possible,  as  Bouquet 
proved  in  1764,  to  follow  temporarily  such  a  policy 
and  at  times  it  was  perhaps  desirable  to  demonstrate 
to  the  savages  that  a  peaceful  policy  was  not  based  on 
a  fear  of  their  power.249 

Johnson  and  Croghan,  on  the  other  hand,  advocated 
an  Indian  policy  based,  not  upon  force,  but  upon  win- 
ning the  friendship  and  confidence  of  the  Indians  by 

248  Stuart  was  able  to  hold  such  a  conference  for  the  Southern  District; 
cf.  Carter,  Clarence  E. :  "British  Policy  towards  the  American  Indians  in 
the  South,"  in  Eng.  Hist.  Rev.,  xxxm,  38. 

249  Croghan  to  Amherst,  Apr.  30,  1763,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A4:  227;  Amherst 
to  Croghan,  May  10,  1763,  in  idem,  A4:  233. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 63 

treating  them  as  human  beings  and,  in  a  kindly  way, 
adapting  policies  to  their  primitive  manners  and  cus- 
toms. A  keg  of  rum,  a  few  thousand  rations,  or  pres- 
ents valued  at  £100,  were  to  Johnson  and  Croghan  a 
small  matter  when  it  meant  the  saving  of  the  profits  of 
the  Indian  trade  or  the  prevention  of  all  the  costs  and 
woes  entailed  by  an  Indian  war.  "The  British  and 
French  Colonies  since  the  first  settling  of  America  has 
adopted  the  Indian  Customs  and  manners  by  indulging 
them  in  Treaties  and  renewing  friendships  making 
them  large  Presents  which  I  fear  won't  be  so  easy  to 
break  them  of  as  the  Gineral  may  imagine  .  .  .", 
wrote  Croghan.  In  following  this  policy  Johnson 
and  Croghan  probably  tended  to  spend  imperial  funds 
rather  freely.  Johnson  summarized  the  matter  well 
when  he  wrote:  "The  more  Indians  get,  the  more 
they  will  Expect  nevertheless  there  is  a  necessity  for 
Expenses,  and  nothing  Can  be  done  with  them  without 
it  but,  in  that  point  Judgment  is  required,  when  it 
shall  be  incured,  and  how  favors  shall  be  dispensed."  250 
When  Amherst  refused  to  modify  his  orders,  Cro- 
ghan began  to  consider  resigning  his  office.  On  De- 
cember 10,  1762,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Bouquet: 
".  .  .  I  don't  chuse  to  be  beging  eternally  for  such 
nesesarys  as  is  wanted  to  carry  on  the  service  nor  will 
I  suport  itt  att  my  own  expense."  Three  months  later 
he  wrote  again  saying  that  he  could  no  longer  see  any 
occasion  to  keep  an  agent  at  Fort  Pitt  since  no  regard 
was  paid  to  any  intelligence  sent  in  or  to  any  opinions 
expressed.  Rather  than  condescend  to  act  under  Am- 
herst, Croghan  wrote  that  he  would  "content  myself 

250  Croghan  to  Bouquet,  Mar.  27,  1762,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  25:  213;  Johnson 
to  Gage,  Aug.  24,  1768,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xvi,  144;  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vu,  559, 
581,  603,  648. 


164       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

att  the  Tayl  of  a  plow  somewhere  on  the  fronteers." 
Amherst,  however,  refused  to  let  Croghan  resign.251 

Other  causes,  besides  those  described  thus  far,  con- 
tributed to  the  revolt  of  the  natives.  Those  on  the 
upper  Ohio  feared  the  on-coming  tide  of  English  set- 
tlers; the  genius  of  Pontiac  united  and  enthused  the 
natives;  the  French  traders  spread  rumors  to  incite 
the  savages  against  the  English.  Pontiac  later  spoke 
of  his  uprising  as  being  really  a  "Bever  War".  So 
well  planned  and  wide-spread  was  Pontiac's  conspiracy 
that  by  midsummer  in  1763  the  English  remained  in 
possession  of  but  three  of  the  French  posts  which  they 
had  just  occupied.  Nine  forts  were  surprised  and  cap- 
tured ,  two  thousand  English  soldiers,  traders,  and 
settlers  captured  or  killed,  often  with  the  foulest  bar- 
barity, some  thousands  of  English  settlers  driven  to 
beggary,  and  traders  and  troops  plundered  of  goods 
valued  at  nearly  £ioo,ooo.252 

Croghan  had  left  Fort  Pitt  for  Carlisle  late  in  April, 
1763.  He  had  been  gone  but  a  few  days  when  Captain 
Ecuyer  began  to  suspect  trouble.  In  the  hour  of  need 
Croghan's  services  were  appreciated;  Ecuyer  wrote: 
"It  is  well  that  he  should  not  delay,  for  those  rascally 
Delawares  are  coming.  .  .  I  am  surrounded  with 
scamps."  253  Ecuyer  was  to  be  beseiged  for  weeks  by 
the  savages.  Croghan  was  surprised  when  the  first 
news  of  the  rising  came  to  him.  He  knew  that  the 
Indians  were  uneasy,  but  he  did  not  expect  such  a  wide- 
spread revolt  at  the  time.     On  June  8,  he  wrote  Bou- 

251  Croghan  to  Bouquet,  Dec.  10,  1762,  Mar.  19,  Mar.  30,  and  Oct.  11, 
1763,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A18-2:  537,  A19:  98,  109,  and  474,  respectively. 

252  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  53;  idem,  X,  256-7. 

253  Ecuyer  to  Bouquet,  May  4,  1763,  in  Darlington:  Fort  Pitt  and  Letters 
from  the  Frontier,  106 ;  idem,  124. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 65 

quet:     "I  Need  Say  Nothing  Now  on  the  Subjectt  as 

itt  will  Nott  Bear  Laff ing  att  as  usual  by  his ."  254 

Amherst  was  greatly  surprised  and  gathered  relief  ex- 
peditions as  fast  as  he  could.  To  Bouquet  he  wrote: 
".  ,  .  I  wish  there  was  not  an  Indian  Settlement 
within  a  Thousand  Miles  of  our  Country,  for  they  are 
only  fit  to  live  with  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Woods  being 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  Brute  than  the  Human  Cre- 
ation." "I  wish  to  hear  of  no  prisoners,  should  any  of 
the  villains  be  met  with  in  arms.  .  .  Could  it  not  be 
contrived  to  send  the  Small  Pox  among  those  dis- 
affected tribes  of  Indians?"  255 

In  the  feverish  activity  which  followed  Croghan 
rendered  all  the  service  he  could.  He  cooperated  with 
Bouquet  in  preparing  the  region  from  Carlisle  to  Bed- 
ford for  eventualities.  He  instilled  courage  into  the 
hearts  of  fleeing  frontiersmen.  Without  waiting  for 
authorization  he  engaged  and  supplied  twenty-five  men 
at  his  own  expense  to  garrison  Fort  Lyttleton.  For 
this  Pennsylvania  later  reimbursed  him.  When  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  Cumberland  County  could  per- 
suade no  one  to  help  convoy  powder  and  lead  to  Fort 
Bedford,  Croghan  took  charge  and  led  the  convoy  him- 
self. When  he  arrived,  Lieutenant  Ourry,  who  was 
holding  Fort  Bedford,  wrote  Bouquet :  "His  company 
as  you  may  well  imagine  is  a  great  relief  to  me  as  his 
generosity  has  been  to  many  a  starving  family."  Here 
Croghan  remained  for  two  months  assisting  Bouquet 
in  arranging  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Pitt.  In  September, 
1763,  when  the  worst  of  the  storm  had  blown  over,  and 
when  it  was  evident  that  at  this  time,  force  and  not 

254  Darlington:    History  of  Col.  Henry  Bouquet,  etc.,  131,  134,  150,  190; 
Croghan  to  Peters  and  Clark,  June  15,  1763,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  xxxiii,  89. 
255Parkman:     Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  11,  38-40. 


1 66       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

diplomacy  must  be  used,  Croghan  left  for  Johnson 
Hall.  His  chief  assistant,  Alexander  McKee,  who 
had  been  in  charge  of  Indian  affairs  at  Fort  Pitt  dur- 
ing the  siege,  took  charge  of  Croghan's  work  during  the 
next  year  and  a  half.  This  he  did  with  credit  to 
himself.256 

Johnson  and  Croghan  discussed  with  great  earnest- 
ness the  future  of  their  department.  It  had  failed  to 
detect  and  prevent  Pontiac's  uprising  and  therefore  had 
not  served  the  British  Empire  as  it  should.  The  open- 
ing of  the  French  and  Indian  War  had  begotten  it 
and  now  the  close  of  that  war  threatened  to  see  its  early 
decline,  if  not  its  demise.  Should  this  occur,  Johnson 
and  Croghan  would  lose  not  only  the  opportunity  to 
serve  their  king,  but  also  the  prestige,  the  great  influ- 
ence, and  the  salary  connected  with  their  imperial 
offices.  They  dreamed  of  an  Indian  department  with 
its  own  financial  resources.  They  hoped  to  occupy  a 
position  similar  to  that  of  the  surveyors-general  of  the 
king's  customs,  the  vice-admiralty  judges,  the  survey- 
ors-general of  the  king's  woods,  or  the  proposed  sur- 
veyors-general of  the  king's  lands.  This  would  make 
them  coordinate  and  not  subordinate  to  the  military 
department. 

The  time  for  attempting  to  realize  these  hopes  was 
now  most  opportune.  British  statesmen  were  engaged 
in  shaping  a  new  imperial  system;  the  lessons  of  Pon- 
tiac's uprising  were  fresh  in  men's  minds;  and  the 
Board  of  Trade  was  makng  a  detailed  study  of  Indian 

256  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  34;  Ourry  to  Bouquet,  June  23,  1763,  in  Bouquet 
Coll.,  A12-2:  499;  Croghan  to  McKee,  Dec.  4,  1764,  in  idem,  A23-2:  470. 
Croghan  and  Bouquet  corresponded  very  frequently  during  this  exciting 
period,  sometimes  exchanging  two  letters  a  day.  -  Cf .  idem,  A19:  173,  184, 
207,  210,  262;  A23:  240;  A4:  265,  292.  Trent  was  made  captain  of  the  militia 
at  Fort  Pitt  and  some  letters  passed  between  him  and  Croghan. -Trent's 
Journal  at  Fort  Pitt,  1763,  in  Miss.  Valley  Hist.  Rev.,  xi,  39off. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 67 

affairs.  The  Board  had  written  to  Johnson  and  to 
various  other  officials  in  America  for  detailed  informa- 
tion and  advice.  In  reply,  Johnson  prepared  a  long 
memorial  on  Indian  affairs.  Croghan  had  been  plan- 
ning for  some  time  to  go  to  London  to  assist  in  securing 
restitution  for  the  losses  of  the  Indian  traders  before 
1755  and  to  secure  a  grant  of  200,000  acres  of  land  in 
New  York.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  have  Croghan 
present  Johnson's  reply  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and  sup- 
port it  in  person  with  detailed  explanations.  Croghan 
was  to  sound  the  ministry  on  the  question  of  establish- 
ing a  definite  Indian  boundary  line  and  to  help  the 
Penns  to  get  it  moved  far  westward  in  Pennsylvania.257 
He  was  also  to  aid  Johnson  to  secure  several  land 
grants  in  New  York  and. reimbursement  for  his  extra- 
ordinary services  and  for  his  personal  expenditures  for 
official  purposes.  To  assist  them  in  these  various  pro- 
jects, Johnson  and  Croghan  enlisted  the  influence  of 
influential  friends  in  both  England  and  America. 

From  Johnson  Hall  Croghan  went  to  New  York 
to  secure  from  Amherst  leave  of  absence  to  go  to  Eng- 
land. Nearly  all  of  those  who  had  held  positions  of 
trust  under  Amherst  in  the  West  felt  as  Croghan  did 
and  wanted  to  resign.  Captain  Gladwyn  at  Detroit, 
Lieutenant  Blane  at  Fort  Ligonier,  and  Bouquet  asked 
Amherst  to  approve  their  resignations.  "For  God's 
sake  let  me  go  and  raise  cabbages",  wrote  Captain  Ecu- 
yer  from  Fort  Pitt.  Amherst  was  in  no  mood  to  grant 
Croghan's  request,  especially  since  Croghan  would 
probably  testify  against  him.  He  wrote  to  Bouquet: 
"I  have  absolutely  refused  to  comply  with  his  request, 
as  I  think  if  his  presence  ever  was  of  any  consequence 
.     .     .     it  certainly  is  so  at  this  present  time."     Am- 

257  Thomas  Penn  to  Croghan,  Jan.  9,  1768,  in  Penn  Letter  Bk.,  ix,  213. 


1 68       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

herst  asked  Croghan  to  join  Bouquet  and  assist  in  the 
relief  of  Fort  Pitt,  but  this,  to  the  great  disappointment 
of  Bouquet,  he  absolutely  refused  to  do.  Instead,  he 
sent  in  his  written  resignation  to  Amherst.  "I  know 
many  people  will  think  I  am  wrong",  wrote  Croghan  to 
Bouquet  "butt  had  I  continued  I  could  be  of  no  more 
service  than  I  have  been  this  eighteen  months  past 
which  was  none  ataul."  258  It  was  not  until  Amherst 
was  superceded  by  Gage  that  Croghan  withdrew  his 
resignation. 

From  New  York  Croghan  proceeded  to  Carlisle  and 
Bedford.  He  sold  several  thousand  acres  of  land  in 
this  region  to  raise  funds  for  his  journey  and  he  gave 
to  Edward  Ward  and  Joseph  Dobson  power  of  attorney 
to  conduct  his  business  affairs  in  his  absence.  He  then 
returned  to  Philadelphia  where  he  engaged  a  man  to 
make  a  map  showing  the  colonial  frontiers.  Here  he 
also  participated  in  a  series  of  conferences  of  far-reach- 
ing importance  with  twelve  of  the  leading  traders  and 
merchants  of  Pennsylvania,  who  along  with  Croghan 
were  seeking  restitution  for  their  losses  in  the  Indian 
trade  before  1754  and  in  1763.  He  sailed  from  Phila- 
delphia on  December  30,  1763.  When  his  ship,  the 
Britannia,  reached  the  coast  of  Normandy  it  was  com- 
pletely wrecked.  Croghan  lost  everything  but  his 
papers.  "I  Traveld  about  140  Miles  in  france  Butt 
Never  See  So  Much  pride  and  poverty  before,"  he 
wrote  to  Johnson.259  The  ancien  regime  presented 
great  contrasts  to  the  frontiersman. 

258  Amherst  to  Bouquet,  Sept.  25,  1763,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  4:  413;  Johnson 
to  Amherst,  Sept.  14,  1763,  in  Haldimand  Coll.,  220:  555;  idem,  588;  Crog- 
han to  Bouquet,  Oct.  11,  1763,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  ai 9-2 1474. 

259  Day:  Calendar  of  Sir  William  Johnson  mss.,  182;  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., 
4th  ser.,  x,  508;  Winsor  is  probably  in  error  in  stating  {Westward  Move- 
ment, 8>  that  Croghan  was  also  to  further  the  interests  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany  of   Virginia    and    of   the   claimants   to    Dinwiddie's    military    grants. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 69 

The  "vanities  of  London",  to  use  Croghan's  phrase, 
made  a  similar  impression.  His  letters  to  Johnson  con- 
tain the  following  striking  observations  on  the  political 
conditions  in  England  on  the  eve  of  the  American 
Revolution.260  He  wrote  that  "the  Cheefe  Study  of 
the  pople  in  power  hear  att  present  is  To  Lay  Heavy 
Taxes  on  the  Colenys  and  tis  Talkt  of  Laying  an  Inter- 
nal Tax  on  them  Next  Cesion  of  parlament."  "Tho  I 
have  been  hear  Now  a  Month  Nothing  has  been  Don 
Respecting  North  aMerrica  -  the  pople  hear  Spend 
thire  Time  in  Nothing  butt  abuseing  one  aNother  & 
Striveing  who  Shall  be  in  power  with  a  view  to  Serve 
themselves  and  thire  frends,  and  Neglect  the  publick. 
Itt  was  butt  yesterday  that  your  State  of  Indian  affairs 
was  Read  att  the  Board  of  Trade  tho  I  Delivered  itt 
the  13th  of  Last  Month."  "Was  I  to  Spake  My  Mind 
I  wold  say  they  are  all  R-g-e-s  [Rogues]  aLike."  It 
ought  to  be  added  that  Johnson,  Croghan,  and  many 
of  the  Revolutionary  leaders  were  not  entirely  free 
from  similar  personal  material  interests  in  politics. 

Croghan  arrived  in  London  on  February  11,  1764. 
Johnson  had  given  him  letters  of  introduction  to  such 
leaders  as  Lord  Halifax,  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Southern  Department,  Lord  Hillsborough,  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  John  Pownall,  Secretary  to  the 
Board  of  Trade,  ex-Governor  Thomas  Pownall,  and 
Thomas  Penn;  with  these  and  with  other  influential 
leaders  Croghan  held  various  conferences.  English 
noblemen  who  desired  to  speculate  in  western  lands 
in  America  sought  interviews  with  him.  During  the 
ensuing  months,  the  Board  of  Trade  very  seriously 

The  relation  of  Croghan's  visit  to   England   to  the  traders'   losses   and  to 
western  lands  will  be  discussed  in  succeeding  chapters. 

260 Johnson  mss.  (111.),  vin,  169;  ix  19,  43,  53,  112,  132;  vii,  218,  251; 
xxrv,  2 1 6. 


170       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

considered  Indian  affairs;  its  journal  shows  that  often 
entire  meetings  were  given  over  to  this  subject.  On 
June  7  and  8,  Croghan  was  called  before  the  Board 
to  discuss  the  problems  presented  in  Johnson's  letters. 
He  drew  up  a  long  formal  letter  on  Indian  affairs 
which  was  read  before  the  Board  on  June  8.261  Cro- 
ghan continued  working  for  his  various  projects  dur- 
ing the  following  summer  and  then  returned  to  New 
York  in  the  autumn  of  1764. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  results  of  Croghan's 
visit.  He  did  not  succeed  in  his  efforts  to  secure  land 
grants  or  restitution  for  Indian  traders,  but  his  visit 
doubtless  increased  the  interest  of  many  Englishmen  in 
the  West  and  it  probably  helped  him  later  on  to  secure 
grants  of  land.  In  Indian  affairs,  he  was  more  success- 
ful for  the  Board  of  Trade  adopted  many  of  the  ideas 
advocated  by  Johnson  and  Croghan.  The  new  min- 
istry, headed  by  Grenville,  Halifax,  and  the  new  pres- 
ident of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Lord  Hillsborough,  were 
much  more  favorably  disposed  toward  the  Indian 
department  than  were  their  predecessors.  The  lessons 
taught  by  Pontiac's  uprising  were  easily  seen.  "Gin- 
eral  Amhirsts  Conduct  is  Condemd  by  Everybody  and 
has  been  pelted  away  in  the  papers,  the  army  Curse 
him  in  publick  as  well  as  the  Merchants,"  wrote 
Croghan. 

Pontiac's  uprising  hastened  the  partial  announce- 
ment of  a  western  colonial  policy  by  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment in  one  of  the  important  documents  of  Ameri- 
can colonial  history,  the  royal  proclamation  of  October 
7,  1763.  The  Board  of  Trade  under  the  leadership 
of  the  industrious   Shelburne  had  been  engaged   all 

261  Bd.  of  Tr.,  Journal,  lxxii:  257-260  and  passim;  Croghan's  letter,  in 
Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xix,  R54;  N.Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  1871, 
1:  35. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  171 

spring  and  summer  in  studying  the  great  problem  of 
formulating  a  comprehensive  colonial  policy  for  all 
the  territories  acquired  in  1763.  Two  points  had  been 
agreed  upon  before  the  news  of  Pontiac's  uprising 
came:  first,  the  establishment  of  civil  governments  for 
Florida  and  Nova  Scotia  and  the  encouragement  of 
emigration  to  these  colonies  in  order  to  settle  these  out- 
lying colonies  and  to  relieve  the  pressure  upon  the 
Indian's  land,  and  second,  the  drawing  of  an  Indian 
boundary  line  from  Canada  to  Florida  beyond  which 
no  settlements  were  to  be  permitted.  This  line  was 
gradually  to  be  moved  westward  as  the  pressure  of 
population  made  this  necessary;  but  this  was  to  be  ac- 
complished, not  by  private  purchases  of  land  from  the 
Indians  which  had  so  often  been  accompanied  by 
fraud,  but  by  purchases  made  by  the  imperial  govern- 
ment. Beyond  this  line  colonial  governors  were  for- 
bidden to  grant  warrants  of  survey  or  patents ;  squatting 
upon  the  Indian's  land  was  also  forbidden.  Criminals 
who  fled  into  the  Indian  country  for  a  place  of  refuge 
were  to  be  returned  by  the  military  and  Indian  officials. 
It  was  hoped  that  this  system  would  remove  perma- 
nently one  of  the  chief  causes  for  Indian  wars  and  that 
it  would  help  immediately  to  allay  the  fears  of  Pon- 
tiac's  adherents.  When  Hillsborough,  the  new  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  drew  up  the  proclamation 
rather  hastily  and  crudely,  these  two  major  points  were 
included.  Other  points  were  added,  some  good  and 
some  bad.  Two  of  these  related  to  Indian  affairs. 
Because  of  the  necessity  for  haste,  the  Indian  boundary 
line  was  not  rationally  marked  out  for  surveying,  but 
was  located  at  the  Appalachian  divide  where  the  In- 
dians could  easily  identify  it.  The  Indian  trade  was 
opened  to  all  who  secured  a  license  from  a  governor  or 


172       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

from  the   commander-in-chief   and   who   obeyed   the 
regulations. 

The  more  mature  policy  of  the  ministry  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  "Plan  for  the  future  Management  of 
Indian  Affairs"  which  was  finally  drawn  up  on  July  10, 
1764,  by  the  Board  of  Trade.262  This  provided  for  a 
permanent  Indian  department  with  two  districts  with 
a  superintendent  over  each.  There  were  to  be  three 
deputy  superintendents  for  the  Northern  and  two  for 
the  Southern  District.  Each  district  was  to  have  four 
missionaries.  To  protect  the  Indians  from  abuses  in 
trade  all  colonial  laws  governing  it  were  to  be  repealed 
and  it  was  to  be  regulated  solely  by  imperial  officials. 
It  was  to  be  open  to  all  English  subjects  who  secured 
a  license  from  a  governor  or  the  commander-in-chief 
specifying  the  particular  place  where  trade  was  to  be 
carried  on  and  who  gave  bond  to  obey  the  imperial 
regulations.  As  soon  as  a  trader  entered  the  Indian 
country  he  would  pass  under  the  direct  supervision  of 
the  Indian  department.  In  the  Southern  District  trade 
was  to  be  confined  to  the  Indian  villages ;  in  the  North- 
ern District,  to  about  twelve  posts.  In  each  village 
and  post  there  was  to  reside  an  interpreter,  a  smith, 
and  a  commissary.  The  latter  was  to  have  strict  super- 
vision of  trade  for  which  tariffs  were  to  be  established. 
No  rum,  swan  shot,  or  rifled  barreled  guns  were  to  be 
sold  to  the  Indians,  nor  credit  extended  to  them  in 
excess  of  fifty  shillings.  The  superintendents  or  their 
deputies  were  to  visit  each  village  and  post  annually 
to  inspect  conditions,  to  meet  the  Indians,  and  to  make 
them  presents.  Only  the  officials  of  the  Indian  depart- 
ment were  to  hold  conferences  with  the  Indians.     To 

2a2  Printed  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  VII,  6376*.  Criticisms  are  found  in  Bd.  of 
Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxn. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 73 

protect  the  Indians  against  settlers  and  land  specula- 
tors, it  was  provided  that  all  purchases  of  their  land 
must  be  made  through  the  Indian  department.  The 
governors,  military  commanders,  and  Indian  officials 
were  to  be  independent  of  each  other,  but  they  were 
to  cooperate  and  act  in  concert.  To  further  such 
action  the  two  superintendents  were  to  be  ex-officio 
members  of  the  council  of  each  colony  in  their  respec- 
tive districts.  The  superintendents,  deputies,  and  com- 
missaries were  to  be  made  justices  of  the  peace  in  order 
to  be  able  to  apprehend  criminals  in  the  Indian  country 
and  to  decide  all  civil  cases  between  traders  or  between 
traders  and  Indians  involving  less  than  £10.  In  all 
such  cases  the  testimony  of  Indians  was  to  be  received. 
Civil  cases  involving  more  than  £10  and  criminal  cases 
were  to  be  tried  in  the  regular  colonial  courts.  All 
Indian  officials  were  forbidden  to  engage  in  trade  with 
the  Indians  or  to  receive  grants  of  land  from  them.  It 
was  estimated  that  this  plan  would  cost  £20,000  an- 
nually; this  was  to  be  raised  by  levying  an  export  duty 
on  furs  and  skins  of  five  percent  or  by  taxing  the  trade 
at  the  posts. 

This  plan  was  at  once  subjected  to  severe  criticism. 
Many  traders,  merchants,  and  colonial  and  imperial 
officials  maintained  that  it  did  not  meet  the  needs  of  the 
situation  and  that  it  was  too  costly.  It  was  declared 
unwise  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  rum,  while  to  confine 
trade  to  the  posts  would  materially  decrease  profits  for 
distant  Indians  could  not  visit  a  post  frequently  nor 
bring  many  goods ;  the  presence  of  a  trader  among  the 
Indians  with  a  supply  of  such  articles  as  the  Indians 
wanted  encouraged  them  to  greater  activity;  moreover, 
many  Indian  families  would  often  be  seriously  incon- 
venienced and  distressed  when  they  lost  or  broke  their 


174       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

hatchets,  knives,  gun-locks,  or  had  their  gunpowder 
spoiled.  A  policy  of  laissez  faire  was  declared  pre- 
ferable to  government  regulation.  It  was  also  argued 
that  it  was  unwise  to  repeal  the  colonial  laws  which 
were  drawn  up  to  meet  local  needs  and  that  there  would 
be  great  danger  of  corruption  if  so  much  power  was 
vested  in  a  few  autocratic  officials  responsible  only  to 
the  ministry.  Governor  Bernard  of  Massachusetts 
wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade  that  with  all  due  respect 
to  Johnson,  he  was  opposed  to  making  him  "  a  Gov- 
ernor within  my  Government".  Governor  Murray  of 
Quebec  wrote  that  giving  the  Superintendent  sole  con- 
trol over  Indian  affairs  "is  establishing  a  Power  within 
another  power,  the  Policy  of  which  I  do  not  compre- 
hend." 

The  plan  could  be  put  into  full  effect  only  through 
an  act  of  Parliament.  The  ministry,  however,  were 
afraid  to  lay  it  before  Parliament  for  it  would  subject 
their  entire  American  policy  to  attack  and  they  would 
be  accused  of  false  professions  of  economy;  the  Board 
of  Trade  had  even  waited  until  Parliament  had  ad- 
journed before  announcing  its  plan.  Croghan  was  told 
that  until  Parliament  acted,  the  commander-in-chief 
would  furnish  the  Indian  department  with  the  funds 
which  it  needed.  This  was  the  crux  of  the  whole 
matter  and  it  presaged  the  ultimate  defeat  of  the  plans 
of  Johnson  and  Croghan.  Meantime,  the  Board  in- 
structed Johnson  and  Stuart  to  put  the  plan  into  oper- 
ation so  far  as  possible.  Stuart  proceeded  to  do  so  at 
once,  but  Johnson  delayed  for  two  years,  probably  be- 
cause of  the  expense  involved.  By  1764,  the  Indian 
department  had  thus  reached  its  height  and  it  had 
become  an  important  phase  of  the  new  imperial  system. 
Croghan  felt  elated  and  wrote  to  McKee:     "I  have 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  175 

been  able  to  settle  the  Department  of  Indian  Affairs,  on 
a  new  system.  .  .  The  sole  management  of  Indian 
Affairs  and  the  Regulation  of  Indian  Trade  is  invested 
in  the  Superintendent  and  his  Agents  independent  of 
the  Officers  Commanding  at  any  of  the  posts  which  I 
make  no  doubt  will  be  no  small  mortification  to  some 
people."  263 

While  Croghan  was  in  England,  Pontiac's  plans  had 
been  frustrated.  Colonel  Bradstreet  had  relieved  De- 
troit and  Bouquet,  after  winning  the  battle  of  Bushy 
Run,  had  relieved  Fort  Pitt  and  then  marched  beyond 
into  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country  and  forced  the 
Delawares  and  Shawnee  to  sue  for  peace.  English 
garrisons  were  again  established  at  various  posts  in 
the  West.  After  1763,  Indian  affairs  presented  many 
of  the  same  problems  as  after  1758.  One  old  problem 
remained  unsolved  ~  the  occupation  of  the  Illinois 
country.  Here,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  two 
years  after  the  peace  of  Paris  had  been  signed,  the 
fleur  de  lis  was  still  flying  over  Fort  de  Chartres,  one 
of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  America.  In  the  villages 
of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  and  in  neighboring  settle- 
ments lived  several  hundred  French  peasants  and 
traders.  The  savages  within  a  large  radius  regarded 
the  French  as  their  friends  and  fathers.  Closely  asso- 
ciated with  these  French  settlements  were  Vincennes 
and  Ouiatenon  on  the  Wabash.  After  Croghan's  re- 
turn to  America,  his  first  and  perhaps  his  greatest  ser- 
vice was  to  assist  in  occupying  the  Illinois  country. 
Pontiac  had  retired  into  this  region  and  refused  all 
overtures  of  peace.  Instead,  he  attempted  to  retrieve 
his  cause  and  determined  to  defend  his  last  place  of 
retreat  against  the  hated  English.     He  was  led  by  the 

263  Croghan  to  McKee,  Dec.  4,  1764,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A23-2:  470. 


176       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

French  traders  to  believe  that  their  king  would  send  a 
large  army  to  help  him.  They  were  especially  influ- 
ential in  1765  because  the  formal  transfer  of  Louisiana 
to  Spain  caused  several  hundred  French  traders  to 
come  up  the  Mississippi  with  a  large  convoy  of  goods. 
To  the  Englishmen  of  1765,  the  Illinois  country 
seemed  as  far  distant  and  as  difficult  to  occupy  as  the 
wilds  of  central  Africa  or  the  Antarctic  region  would 
seem  to  us  today.  Hutchins  considered  the  Western 
Confederacy  "more  difficult  to  conquer  with  an  armed 
Force  than  the  taking  of  a  dozen  such  places  as  the 
Havana  with  its  Moro  Castles."  Numerous  desertions 
from  the  34th  regiment  occurred  as  soon  as  it  was 
announced  that  this  regiment  was  to  be  sent  to  occupy 
the  Illinois  country.  Gage  used  Detroit,  Fort  Pitt,  and 
Mobile  as  bases  from  which  to  occupy  Illinois.  Both 
Johnson  and  Stuart  sent  deputies  to  the  Illinois  tribes 
and  there  was  much  rivalry  as  to  which  of  the  two 
should  first  succeed.  Before  success  was  finally  at- 
tained, six  missions  were  sent  to  Illinois.  Some  of 
these  were  forced  to  turn  back  before  reaching  it; 
those  who  did  reach  it  often  had  their  men  stripped, 
beaten,  and  threatened  by  drunken  Indians.  Only  the 
intercession  of  Pontiac  or  the  French  commander,  St. 
Ange,  enabled  them  to  drop  secretly  down  the  Missis- 
sippi at  night  for  New  Orleans.  One  military  force 
composed  of  over  300  men  under  Major  Loftus  while 
going  up  the  Mississippi  in  1764  to  occupy  Illinois,  was 
fired  upon  by  the  Indians  and  helplessly  forced  to 
retreat  after  it  had  gone  only  240  miles.  All  of  these 
attempts,  however,  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for 
Croghan.264 

264  Hutchins  to  Johnson,  Aug.  31,  1765,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  80;  idem, 
58;  Pa.  Gazette,  Aug.  15  and  22,  1765;  Carter,  Clarence  E. :  Great  Britain 
and  the  Illinois  Country,  1763-1774,  Chapt.  in;  Journal  of  Capt.  Morris,  in 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 77 

"It  admits  of  no  doubt  but  the  Way  of  Negotiation 
is  the  only  one  admissable  at  present.  .  .  Mr.  Cro- 
ghan  is  the  fittest  Person  in  America  to  Transact  that 
Business  .  .  .",  wrote  the  seasoned  Indian  fighter, 
Bouquet,  to  Gage;  and  the  latter  reported  to  the  min- 
istry that  "it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  operations  are 
delicate,  and  that  they  require  caution,  skill  and  Art- 
ful management."  Croghan  wrote  to  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin in  London :  "I  returned  from  England  last  winter, 
when  I  found  the  General  not  a  little  distressed  -  In 
that,  all  his  endeavours  had  hitherto  failed,  with  respect 
to  gaining  the  Ilinois.  I  therefore  thought  it  the  Duty 
of  my  Department,  to  propose  to  him  that  I  should  use 
my  best  endeavours  with  the  Natives  (with  whom  I 
had  been  long  acquainted  and  flattered  myself,  had 
some  influence)  to  obtain  their  consent  to  His  Majestys 
Troops,  peaceably,  possessing  that  Country.  -  Which 
proposition  he  cheerfully  accepted  off."  265 

Croghan  with  great  exuberance  of  spirit  now  sent 
McKee  a  message  for  the  Indians  around  Fort  Pitt. 
In  it  he  told  of  his  coming  and  asked  them  to  have 
their  peltry  collected  and  to  be  ready  to  transact  busi- 

Thwaites:  Early  Western  Travels,  I,  301-328.  The  success  of  Major 
Farmar  the  next  year  on  a  similar  expedition  was  due  to  Croghan's  suc- 
cessful mission  and  to  the  preparation  made  by  Stuart.  Stuart  supplied 
three  Choctaw  chiefs  who  accompanied  Farmar  to  Natchez  and  made  the 
smaller  tribes  forget  their  hostility;  at  Natchez,  80  Choctaws  joined  Farmar; 
further  up  the  river  125  Chickasaws  met  him,  14  of  whom  accompanied 
him  all  the  way  to  the  Illinois  country,  hunting  buffaloes  for  the  expedition 
and  overawing  the  natives ;  and  finally,  a  band  of  Cherokees  came  to  meet 
him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Stuart  also  furnished  Farmar  with  presents 
and  agents  to  distribute  them  all  along  his  route. -Farmar  to  Stuart,  Dec. 
16,  1765,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxv-2,  656. 

265  Bouquet  to  Gage,  Jan.  5,  1765,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A7:  in;  Gage  to 
Lord  Halifax,  July  13,  1764,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  X,  283;  idem,  xi,  80.  All 
students  of  Croghan's  missions  to  Illinois  are  greatly  indebted  to  Professors 
Alvord  and  Carter  for  their  work  in  collecting  and  editing  the  original 
documents  contained  in  the  British  Series  of  the  Illinois  Historical  Collections. 


178       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ness.  He  wrote  McKee:  "You  are  under  no  neces- 
sity of  acquainting  any  officer  what  instructions  you 
receive  from  me.  .  .  You  will  present  my  compli- 
ments to  any  gentlemen  you  please,  or  none  at  all  as  you 
shall  think  proper.  .  ."  Bouquet  wrote  Captain 
Murray  at  Fort  Pitt  to  open  the  letter,  send  him  a  copy 
of  it,  and  should  the  message  be  contrary  to  his  Indian 
policy,  not  to  permit  it  to  be  delivered.  Bouquet  com- 
plained to  Gage  that  Croghan  gave  him  no  notice  of 
his  plans  and  that  by  prematurely  opening  the  Indian 
trade  he  would  counteract  the  good  accomplished  by 
his  expedition.  He  added  that  he  was  glad  that  under 
the  new  system  the  military  officers  would  have  no 
further  duties  in  Indian  affairs,  "tho'  at  the  same  time 
we  cannot  but  regret  that  Powers  of  so  great  impor- 
tance to  this  country,  should  in  this  instance  have  been 
trusted  to  a  man  so  ill[it]erate,  impudent  and  ill-bred, 
who  subverts  to  particular  purposes  the  wise  views  of 
the  Government,  and  begins  his  functions  by  a  ridi- 
culous display  of  his  own  importance,  and  an  attempt 
to  destroy  the  harmony  which  ought  to  subsist  between 
the  different  branches  of  the  service."  266 

Meanwhile,  Croghan  had  been  in  conference  with 
Gage  at  New  York  and  probably  with  Johnson  at 
Johnson  Hall,  and  had  proceeded  to  Philadelphia. 
Lieutenant  Fraser  had  volunteered  to  accompany  Cro- 
ghan as  Gage's  representative  to  St.  Ange.  He  spoke 
French  and  supplied  other  qualifications  lacking  by 
his  colleague.  Gage  generously  supplied  Croghan 
with  £2,000  sterling  and  with  presents  valued  at  £1,200. 
Gage  issued  orders  to  all  military  officers  stationed 
along  the  road  to  Fort  Pitt  to  permit  Croghan's  pres- 

206  Croghan  to  McKee,  Dec.  4,  1764,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A23-2:  470; 
Bouquet  to  Murray,  Dec.  14,  1764,  in  idem,  473 ;  Bouquet  to  Gage,  Dec.  22, 
1765,  in  idem,  474;  idem,  A7:  122,  a8:  508,  A24:  250,  and  A26:  60. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 79 

ents  of  ammunition,  dry  goods,  and  liquor  to  pass  un- 
molested, and  to  furnish  him  with  provisions  and  at 
Fort  Pitt  with  batteaux.  Croghan  left  Philadelphia 
for  Carlisle  on  January  24,  1765,  in  advance  of  his  con- 
voy of  presents.  He  then  followed  the  military  road 
which  seven  years  before  had  been  cut  across  the  moun- 
tains. It  passed  along  crags  and  chasms  and  still 
abounded  in  stumps,  roots,  and  stones.  On  either  side 
stood  the  grim,  leafless  forest.  During  this  season  of 
the  year  the  traveler  could  secure  a  good  view  of  the 
interminable  ranges  of  waste  and  lonely  mountains. 
The  traveler  over  this  road  could  stop  here  and  there 
at  a  friendly  English  fort.  To  Croghan  this  stern  life 
had  a  fascination  that  made  all  other  existence  seem 
tame. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Fort  Pitt,  news  came 
that  the  "Black  Boys"  had  attacked  his  convoy,  burned 
most  of  his  presents  and  threatened  his  life  if  he  ever 
returned  to  Cumberland  County.  The  frontiersmen 
of  Pennsylvania  had  overlooked  the  Indian  attacks 
of  1 755- 1 758,  but  after  1763  they  could  not  again  over- 
look the  burning  of  their  homes  and  the  scalping  of 
loved  ones.  They  objected  to  the  immediate  reopen- 
ing of  trade  with  the  savages,  to  making  them  such 
large  presents,  and  especially  to  letting  them  have  guns 
and  ammunition.  Their  past  sufferings  and  their 
narrow  horizon  prevented  them  from  seeing  the  larger 
aspects  of  the  problem.  The  Indian  trade  had  not  yet 
been  legally  opened.  When  the  frontiersmen  saw  the 
size  of  Croghan's  convoy  and  heard  rumors  that  the 
firm  of  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  were  illegally 
sending  their  goods  along  with  the  king's  presents, 
they  acted  quickly  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the 
frontier.     Thirty  of  them  with  blackened  faces  and 


1 80       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

dressed  like  Indians,  led  by  Captain  James  Smith  and 
two  other  justices  of  the  peace  of  Cumberland  County, 
stationed  themselves  in  ambush  on  Sideling  Hill,  sev- 
enteen miles  west  of  Fort  Loudoun.  When  the  con- 
voy of  eighty-one  packhorses  came  along,  they  fired, 
killing  many  of  the  horses.  The  frightened  drivers, 
thankful  to  escape  alive,  soon  had  their  goods  and 
saddles  piled  up  as  directed  and  saw  them  burned  or 
taken.  Some  of  the  drivers  with  seventeen  horseloads 
escaped  to  Fort  Loudoun.267 

This  led  to  open  hostility  between  the  imperial 
troops  and  the  frontiersmen.  Prisoners  and  arms  were 
taken  on  both  sides  and  exchanged  under  flags  of  truce. 
At  one  time  300  riflemen  surrounded  the  fort.  At  an- 
other time,  they  seized  the  commandant  and  left  him 
tied  to  a  tree.  Goods  passing  westward  were  inspected 
and  passes  such  as  the  following  were  more  effectual 
than  passes  issued  by  Governor  Penn  or  General  Gage: 
"As  the  Sidling  Hill  Volunteers  have  already  In- 
spected these  goods,  and  as  they  are  all  private  prop- 
erty, it  is  Expected  that  none  of  these  brave  fellows 
will  molest  them  upon  the  Road,  as  there  is  no  Indian 
Supplies  amongst  them.  -  Given  under  my  Hand,  May 
15,  1765 -James  Smith."268  Expresses  carrying  news 
and  dispatches  were  censored.  Governor  Penn  issued 
proclamations  and  removed  the  three  justices  of  the 
peace  from  office.  Gage  wrote  Penn  placing  all  the 
troops  in  Pennsylvania  at  his  disposal  to  suppress  the 
lawless  banditti  who  seemed  to  be  in  an  actual  state  of 
rebellion.  His  words  were  prophetic.  Gradually, 
the  activity  of  the  Pennsylvania  frontiersmen  de- 
creased, but  it  never  ceased  entirely  before  the  Rev- 
olution. 


267  Withers,  Alexander  S.:     Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare,  noff. 

268  Pa.  Arch.,  w,  220;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  265-270,  293. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  l8l 

With  his  presents  destroyed  and  charged  with  cor- 
ruption, Croghan,  now  at  Fort  Pitt,  faced  his  work 
with  serious  handicaps.  For  the  moment  he  felt  that 
he  ought  to  resign.  In  the  emergency,  he  went  to  the 
firm  of  Trent,  Simon,  Levy,  and  Franks  and  asked  for 
goods  out  of  their  warehouse.  He  inspired  them  with 
enthusiasm  for  his  vision  of  the  future  of  the  West  and 
partially  repaired  his  loss  with  goods  to  the  amount  of 
£2,037,  us,  ioy2d.  He  gave  his  own  personal  note  as 
security  in  spite  of  his  previous  experience  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances.269 

After  Croghan  and  Fraser  arrived  at  Fort  Pitt  they 
encountered  various  delays.  The  hostages,  whom  the 
Delawares  and  Shawnee  had  left  at  that  place,  had 
fled.  These  tribes  had  promised  Bouquet  after  he  had 
chastised  them  that  they  would  send  a  delegation  to 
Johnson  to  make  peace,  but  only  one  chief  came.  Time 
after  time  Indians  came  to  Pittsburg  with  loads  of 
peltry;  when  they  were  told  that  trade  was  not  to  be 
opened  till  they  fulfilled  their  promises,  they  grew 
sulky  and  sullen.  McKee  had  sent  belts  to  the  upper 
Ohio  tribes  and  to  Pontiac  inviting  them  to  conferences 
with  Croghan,  but  they  reluctantly  came  dropping  in, 
band  after  band,  with  such  slowness  that  weeks  passed 
before  enough  were  present  to  open  a  council.  Fraser's 
orders  did  not  permit  long  delay  and  therefore  he  left 
in  a  canoe  in  March,  outfitted  by  Croghan.  Fraser 
arrived  safely  at  Fort  de  Chartres,  but  when  Croghan's 
arrival  was  delayed,  he  was  forced  to  drop  down  the 
Mississippi  to  save  his  life. 

Croghan  labored  for  two  months  sending  out  mes- 
sages to  individual  Indians  and  holding  private  inter- 
views with  such  Indians  as  he  could  reach.     Finally, 

269  Original  bill,  note  and  receipts,  in  McAllister  Coll.;  Byars:  B.  and 
M.  Gratz,  73. 


1 82       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

he  was  able  to  open  a  formal  and  difficult  conference 
on  May  8.  Over  500  Delaware,  Shawnee,  Seneca,  and 
Sandusky  warriors,  most  of  whom  had  participated  in 
the  rising  in  1763,  together  with  many  of  their  women 
and  children  were  present.  Croghan's  speeches  in- 
formed them  that  if  they  would  return  their  English 
captives,  leave  hostages  at  Fort  Pitt,  send  delegates  to 
Johnson  to  make  peace,  and  provide  a  deputation  to 
accompany  him  to  Illinois,  then  trade  would  be  re- 
opened. The  Indians  asked  that  they  be  treated  with 
more  consideration  than  had  been  the  case  before  1763 
and  that  trade  in  rum,  guns,  and  ammunition  be  al- 
lowed. They  agreed  to  fulfill  the  conditions  laid 
down  by  Croghan.  "We  will  go  with  you  and  do 
everything  in  our  power  to  promote  the  good  work  of 
Peace,"  said  one  speaker.  Presents  were  then  dis- 
tributed. Croghan  enclosed  a  copy  of  the  minutes  of 
the  conference  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Penn  and  the 
latter  then  issued  a  proclamation  throwing  wide  open 
the  Indian  trade.  Croghan  had  patiently  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  success  of  his  mission.270 

On  May  15,  he  left  Fort  Pitt  on  a  journey  that  was 
to  occupy  a  memorable  place  in  western  annals.  His 
company  included  Thomas  Smallman  and  a  deputa- 
tion of  Delaware,  Shawnee,  and  Seneca  chiefs.  In  his 
two  batteaux  were  a  goodly  supply  of  presents  and 
gold  and  silver  money.  He  dropped  down  the  Ohio 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  to  ninety  miles  a  day.  The  inter- 
est and  anxiety  with  which  his  friends,  military  and 
civil  officials,  and  eastern  business  leaders  awaited  the 
outcome  of  his  perilous  undertaking  is  shown  by  con- 

270  Croghan's  Journal  of  Transactions  with  the  Indians  at  Fort  Pitt 
in  1765,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  249,  264  (another  version  is  found  in  the 
Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  i,  12)  ;  Wharton  to  Franklin,  1765,  in  Franklin  MSS., 
Lvm,  88;  idem,  1,  19. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 83 

temporary  notices  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  and  in 
Johnson's  wide  correspondence.  To  many  persons  his 
mission  rivaled  the  Stamp  Act  in  interest.  Many  busi- 
ness interests  hoped  to  profit  more  by  it  than  they  ever 
expected  to  lose  through  new  taxes.  Rumors  soon 
began  to  come  out  of  the  West  to  these  persons.  One 
rumor  said  that  Croghan  and  all  his  party  were  burned 
at  the  stake;  another,  that  Pontiac  "had  prepared  a 
large  Kettle,  in  which  he  was  determined  to  boil  them, 
and  all  other  Englishmen  that  came  that  Way."  2T1 

Meanwhile,  Croghan  was  proceeding  down  the 
Ohio.272     He  tarried  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  to  hold 

271  Pa.  Gazette,  July  18,  Aug.  15,  et  al,  1765;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  II,  820, 
833.  Capucin,  a  leading  French  merchant  at  Vincennes,  wrote  on  June  7, 
1765:  "Les  Anglois  que  Maisonville  a  conduit  Aux  Ilinois,  sont  tous 
echapez  de  la  fureur  des  Sauvages,  comme  ceux  qui  etoint  venus  en  premier 
lieu,  ils  n'ont  pas  mieux  reussoi  Tun  que  l'autre.  Mr.  George  Croghan  est 
bien  attendu,  mais  je  pense  que  s'il  arrive  il  ne  sera  pas  mieux  rec,u  que 
les  Autres,  je  croi  qu'il  a  eut  plus  de  prudence  que  les  premiers  envoyes, 
on  bien  il  a  ete  defait  dans  la  Belle  Riviere." -Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations 
General,  xxv-i,  157. 

272  Croghan's  two  journals  of  this  expedition  are  important  documents 
for  the  history  of  the  west.  One  journal,  emphasizing  the  Indian  nego- 
tiations, was  evidently  prepared  for  English  officials;  the  other,  emphasizing 
topography,  soil,  trees,  game,  etc.,  was  evidently  prepared  for  land  specu- 
lators and  projectors  of  inland  colonies.  Croghan  referred  to  the  latter 
as  his  "private"  journal.  No  paragraph  in  one  is  the  same  as  any  para- 
graph in  the  other,  yet  there  is  nothing  contradictory  in  the  two  journals. 
Croghan  to  Franklin,  Feb.  25,  1766,  in  C.  O.,  5:  66.  Croghan  sent  a 
copy  of  both  journals  to  Franklin.  -  Croghan  to  Franklin,  Dec.  12,  1765,  in 
C.  O.,  5:  66. 

There  are  several  versions  of  each  journal,  varying  in  phraseology  and 
in  length.  Versions  of  the  "official"  journal  are  found  in  (1)  the  Penn 
mss.,  Indian  Affairs,  iv,  496*.,  (2)  C.  O.,  323.23  (copy  sent  by  Croghan  to 
the  Board  of  Trade),  (3)  C.  O.,  5:  66  (copy  sent  by  Croghan  to  Frank- 
lin), C.  O.,  5:83,  (4)  Durrett  Coll.,  University  of  Chicago,  and  (5) 
mss.,  Division,  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburgh.  The  "official"  journal  has 
been  printed  in  (1)  Perkins,  J.  H.:  Annals  of  the  West,  1846,  (2)  Albach, 
J.  R.:  Annals  of  the  West,  1856,  (3)  Hildreth,  S.  P.:  Pioneer  History  of 
Ohio,  68ff.,  1848,  (4)  the  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  779ft.,  1856,  and  (5)  in  the 
///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  38E,  1916. 

Versions  of  the  "land"  journal  are  found  in   (1)   Hutchins  MSS.,  Ill,  946*., 


184       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

a  conference  with  the  Indians  and  to  secure  seven 
French  "Incendiaries".  From  here  he  wrote  Gage  and 
Johnson.  He  was  about  to  enter  the  region  which  had 
been  closed  to  him  as  a  trader  and  into  which  but  few 
Englishmen  had  ever  ventured.  As  his  party  floated 
and  rowed  down  the  Ohio  they  encountered  only  the 
stillness  and  solitude  of  the  leafy  banks  which  might 
at  any  point  harbor  a  lurking  foe.  On  June  7,  Cro- 
ghan's  servant  who  had  left  the  camp  to  look  for  wood 
did  not  return.  Croghan  waited  in  vain  and  con- 
cluded that  he  had  become  lost,  but  he  had  been  cap- 
tured by  Indians  who  learned  from  him  the  nature  of 
the  expedition.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  Cro- 
ghan found  a  breastwork  which  had  been  thrown  up 
by  the  Indians.  He  now  thought  it  wise  to  dispatch 
two  Indians  overland  to  Fort  de  Chartres  with  letters 
to  Fraser  and  St.  Ange.  The  next  day  he  encamped. 
The  story  of  the  attack  which  followed  is  best  told  in 
his  own  words:  "June  8th  at  Day  Break  we  were  at- 
tacked by  a  Party  of  Indians  consisting  of  Eighty  War- 
riors of  the  Kicapers  and  Musquatimes 273  who  Killed 

and  (2)  among  the  papers  of  George  Morgan,  though  the  latter  copy  may 
no  longer  be  in  existence.  The  "land"  journal  has  been  printed  in  (i)  the 
Monthly  Journal  of  American  Geology,  i,  257*?.,  1831,  (2)  Butler,  Mann: 
History  of  Kentucky,  Appendix,  1834,  (3)  Craig,  N.  B.,  Olden  Time,  1, 
4036?.,  1846,  (4)  a  pamphlet,  published  by  Thomas  at  Burlington,  N.J.,  in 
1876  and  (5)  in  the  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  23ff.,  1916.  In  Thwaites:  Early 
Western  Travels,  1,  i26ff.  (1904)  the  "official"  and  "land"  journals  have 
been  combined  and  printed  as  one  journal. 

Croghan  furnished  Dr.  William  Smith,  Provost  of  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia, with  a  copy  of  one  of  these  journals  for  use  in  a  projected  history 
of  "all  the  Indians  and  their  countries"  annexed  to  England  in  1763. 
(Smith  to  Johnson,  Jan.  13,  1766,  in  Johnson  mss.,  Library  of  Congress). 
James  Adair  probably  used  them  for  his  History  of  the  American  Indians. 
From  that  day  to  this,  these  journals  have  been  utilized  by  historians. 
Parkman  used  them  extensively  for  his  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac.  The  best 
printed  versions  are  found  in  the  ///.  Hist.  Coll. 

273  Probably  the  Kickapoo  and  Mascoutens,  staunch  allies  to  the  French; 
cf.  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  3n.3  and  57n.2. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 85 

two  of  my  men  &  three  Indians  wounded  myselfe  and 
all  the  rest  of  my  party  Except  two  White  Men  and  one 
Indian  then  made  myselfe  and  all  the  White  men  Pris- 
oners plundering  us  of  everything  we  had.  A  Dep- 
uty of  the  Shawnesse  who  was  Shot  thro  the  Thigh  hav- 
ing concealed  him  selfe  in  the  Woods  for  a  few  Minuets 
after  he  was  Wounded  not  then  Knowing  but  they 
were  Southern  Indians  who  are  always  at  war  with  the 
Northward  Indians:  after  discovering  what  Nation 
they  were  he  came  up  to  them  and  made  a  very  bold 
speech  telling  them  that  the  Whole  Northward  Indians 
would  join  in  taking  Revenge  for  the  Insult  and  mur- 
der of  their  People  this  alarmed  thoss  Indians  very 
much  they  began  excusing  themselves  saying  their 
Fathers  the  French  had  spirited  them  up  telling  them 
the  Inglish  were  coming  with  a  body  of  Southern  In- 
dians to  take  their  Country  from  them  and  inslave  them 
that  it  was  this  that  induced  them  to  commit  this  Out- 
rage after  having  divided  the  plunder  they  left  great 
Part  of  the  heaviest  Effects  Behind  not  being  able  to 
carry  them  they  sett  of  with  us  to  their  Village  at 
Cautonan  [Ouiatenon]  in  a  great  Hurry  being  in  dread 
of  a  Pursuit  from  a  large  Party  of  Indians  they  sus- 
pected they  were  coming  after  me :  Our  Course  was 
thro  a  thick  Woody  Country  crossing  a  great  many 
Swamps  Morasses  and  Beaver  Ponds  we  traveled  this 
Day  about  42  Miles." 

"I  got  the  stroke  of  a  Hatchet  on  the  Head,"  wrote 
Croghan  to  Captain  Murray,  "but  my  skull  being 
pretty  thick,  the  hatchet  would  not  enter,  so  you  may  see 
a  thick  skull  is  of  service  on  some  occasions."  274  Imme- 
diately after  the  attack  his  Indian  deputies  were  at 

274  Croghan  to  Murray,  July  12,  1765,  in  Eng.  and  Am.  1764-5,  414,  Ban- 
croft Coll. 


1 86       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

once  released  and  they  faithfully  proceeded  overland 
to  Fort  de  Chartres.  The  white  prisoners,  many  of 
whom  were  wounded,  were  compelled  to  proceed 
northward  to  Vincennes  by  forced  marches.  They 
suffered  exceedingly  with  the  heat  and  the  lack  of 
water.  For  a  time  they  feared  that  they  might  be 
burned  at  the  stake.  After  they  reached  Vincennes, 
Croghan  procured  with  difficulty  scraps  of  paper  upon 
which  he  wrote  his  journal  in  disguised  characters, 
unintelligible  to  the  French. 

At  Vincennes,  Croghan  found  eighty  French  fam- 
ilies whom  he  describes  as  "an  idle  lazy  people  a  parcel 
of  Renegadoes  from  Canada  and  are  much  worse  than 
Indians."  They  took  secret  pleasure  at  his  misfortune 
and  enriched  themselves  by  securing  his  gold  and  silver 
specie  from  the  Indians  for  mere  trifles.  They  told 
him  of  Fraser's  escape  from  Illinois  and  allowed  him 
to  send  a  letter  to  St.  Ange  and  to  buy  some  clothing 
and  horses  for  the  journey  to  Ouiatenon.  This  journey 
took  him  through  the  region  inhabited  by  the  Pianka- 
shaws,  with  whose  chiefs  he  had  traded  at  Pickawillani 
fifteen  years  before.  His  old  acquaintances  frankly 
informed  him  of  the  situation,  refused  to  accept  any  of 
the  plunder  and  upbraided  the  Kickapoo  and  Mascou- 
tens  for  beginning  "a  War  for  which  our  Women  and 
Children  will  have  reason  to  Cry.  .  ."  The  fear  of 
the  dreaded  Iroquois  brought  the  Indians  to  terms. 
They  were  soon  abjectly  begging  Croghan  to  intercede 
for  them  with  the  Shawnee,  Delawares  and  Six  Nations 
and  offered  to  conduct  any  troops  to  Fort  de  Chartres 
and  to  be  forever,  faithful  allies  to  the  English. 

In  the  meantime,  the  chiefs  of  the  Wabash  tribes, 
who  had  gone  to  Illinois  to  await  Croghan,  returned. 
Croghan  met  them  and  reconciled  them  to  English 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 87 

rule.  On  July  1,  the  Englishmen  were  set  free  and  on 
July  12,  Croghan  was  permitted  to  write  Johnson, 
Gage,  Murray,  Farmar,  and  Campbell.  The  follow- 
ing day,  Croghan  held  a  formal  conference  with  the 
Ottawa,  Piankashaw,  Miami,  Ouiatenon,  Mascoutens, 
and  Kickapoo  Indians.  They  confessed  that  "they 
never  had  much  sense"  and  expressed  sincere  repent- 
ance. Finally,  their  chiefs  made  a  pathetic  appeal  to 
both  the  English  and  the  French,  to  help  reestablish 

275 

peace. 

Shortly  after  this  conference,  Maisonville  arrived 
with  a  message  from  St.  Ange  inviting  Croghan  and 
the  Indian  chiefs  to  come  to  Illinois  to  meet  Pontiac. 
They  set  out  on  July  18.  On  the  trail  they  met  Pon- 
tiac, himself,  with  a  train  of  dark,  malignant  followers 
and  the  Indian  deputies  who  had  left  Croghan  after 
the  attack.  Pontiac  had  read  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall  and  had  finally  decided  to  smoke  the  calumet  with 
his  triumphant  enemies.  All  now  returned  to  Ouia- 
tenon where  a  grand  council  was  held;  Croghan  was 
informed  that  he  might  rest  satisfied  that  whenever  the 
English  came  to  take  possession  of  the  Illinois  country 
they  would  be  received  with  open  arms.  "Pondiac 
and  I  are  on  extreme  good  terms,"  wrote  Croghan 
to  McKee,  "and  I  am  mistaken  if  I  don't  ruin  his  in- 
fluence with  his  own  people  before  I  part  with  him. 
.  .  Had  I  arrived  safe  to  the  Ilinois  it  would  not  have 
been  in  my  Power  to  have  carried  this  Point.  .  . 
nothing  but  their  Killing  the  People  with  Me,  would 
have  brought  them  to  Reason."  Later  he  wrote  John- 
son that  "Pondiac  is  a  shrewd  Sensible  Indian  of  few 
words,   and   commands  more  respect  amongst  those 

275  Speeches  of  the  Indians  of  the  Oubache  to  Mr.  Croghan,  in  C.  O., 
5:  83. 


1 88       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Nations,  than  any  Indian  I  ever  saw  could  do  amongst 
his  own  Tribe."  276 

Indian  runners  were  dispatched  to  notify  Captain 
Stirling  at  Fort  Pitt  that  he  could  now  leave  for  Fort 
de  Chartres.  This  he  did.  Under  trying  circum- 
stances, without  sufficient  presents  or  an  Indian  agent 
to  help  him,  he  occupied  and  held  it  until  Major 
Farmar  came  up  the  Mississippi  to  establish  securely 
English  rule  in  Illinois. 

Since  there  was  now  no  need  to  proceed  to  Fort  de 
Chartres,  Croghan  left  for  Detroit,  accompanied  by 
Pontiac  and  many  chiefs.  Croghan  met  many  old  In- 
dian friends  as  he  journeyed  along  the  Maumee  River. 
English  prisoners  were  brought  to  him.  He  arrived 
at  Detroit  on  August  17,  and  was  at  once  engaged  in  the 
midst  of  important  Indian  negotiations.  In  response  to 
inviations  sent  them  by  Colonel  Bradstreet,  thirty  chiefs 
and  upwards  of  five  hundred  warriors,  representing 
the  Ottawa,  Potawatomi,  Ojibway,  Wyandot,  Wea, 
Piankashaw,  Kickapoo,  Mascoutens,  and  Miami  tribes, 
had  assembled.  Le  Grand  Sauteur,  or  Minavavana, 
the  chief  coadjutor  of  Pontiac  who  had  so  successfully 
led  the  attack  on  Fort  Michillimackinac  in  1763,  was 
among  those  who  came  to  make  peace.  Pontiac  played 
an  important  part  in  the  proceedings.  Colonel  Camp- 
bell and  deputies  from  the  Six  Nations  sent  by  John- 
son assisted  Croghan.  The  Indians  agreed  to  return 
their  prisoners,  to  permit  the  occupation  of  posts  in 
their  country,  and  to  recognize  the  English  as  their 
fathers.  In  return,  they  asked  that  trade  be  reopened 
on  favorable  terms  and  that  they  be  paid  a  yearly  rental 
in  presents  for  the  land  around  the  posts. 

276  Croghan  to  McKee,  Aug.  3,  1765,  in  C.  O.,  5:  83;  ///.  Hist.  Coll., 
XI,  53.    Through  the  efforts  of  Professor  George  W.  Brown,  now  of  Peru, 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 89 

After  this  second  signal  success,  Croghan  left  Detroit 
in  a  canoe  for  Niagara.  Here  he  held  a  council  with 
the  Senecas,  informed  them  of  his  recent  treaties,  and 
asked  them  to  spread  the  news  thereof.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded down  Lake  Ontario  and  at  Ontario  held  a  sim- 
ilar council  with  the  Onondago  sachems.  He  arrived 
at  Johnson  Hall  early  in  November  after  an  absence 
of  almost  a  year.  The  final  epilogue  to  the  Seven 
Years  War  in  America  had  closed;  England's  heredi- 
tary foe  was  crushed  and  the  cause  of  the  savages  irre- 
trievably ruined.  The  Illinois  country  was  perma- 
nently opened  to  Anglo-Saxon  civilization. 

Croghan's  contemporaries  regarded  his  mission  as  a 
brilliant  diplomatic  achievement  which  surpassed  the 
most  sanguine  expectations.  Letters  to  Johnson  in 
1765  and  1766  abound  in  congratulations;  Gage  felt 
relieved  and  satisfied;  the  assembly  of  Pennsylvania 
sent  a  message  to  Gage  expressing  their  approbation  of 
Croghan's  success  and  their  gratitude  that  the  Illinois 
country  had  been  occupied  without  an  immense  ex- 
penditure of  blood  and  treasure  and  that  the  fur  trade 
could  now  be  extended  into  vast  regions  hitherto  never 
visited  by  English  traders.277 

To  the  Philadelphia  merchants,  whose  ocean-going 
trade  was  suffering  from  the  results  of  non-importa- 
tion agreements,  the  prospect  of  opening  a  rich  inland 
trade  was  welcomed.  Vast  fortunes  were  supposed  to 
await  them  in  the  rich  peltry  trade  of  the  Illinois  coun- 
try and  its  rich  lands.  Speculative  colonial  leaders 
were  lured  on  to  risk  life  and  fortune  in  the  West. 
They  considered  that  Forbes's  Road  and  the  Ohio  River 

Nebraska,  a  monument  has  been  erected  in  Edgar  County,  Illinois,  marking 
the  approximate  place  where  Croghan  and  Pontiac  first  met. 

277  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  87,  116,  207,  336,  340,  383;  Pa.  Gazette,  Nov.  28, 
1765,  and  May  15,  1766. 


igo       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

offered  as  good  a  route  to  the  interior  as  did  the  Missis- 
sippi from  New  Orleans.  Two  rival  Philadelphia 
firms  were  especially  interested  in  the  West-  Baynton, 
Wharton,  and  Morgan,  predominantly  Quaker,  and 
David  Franks  and  Company,  predominantly  Jewish. 
The  latter  included  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz,  Wil- 
liam Plumsted,  William  Murray,  James  Rumsey,  and 
Alexander  Ross  and  was  closely  associated  with  the 
partnership  of  Simon,  Trent,  Levy,  and  Franks. 
Simon  and  Levy  were  the  leading  Jewish  merchants  in 
Lancaster.  Franks  and  Company,  through  Moses 
Franks  in  London,  kept  in  close  touch  with  British 
politics.  Croghan  was  closely  associated  with  both 
firms ;  in  the  beginning  his  major  business  dealings  were 
with  the  Quaker  group,  but  about  1767  they  shifted  to 
the  Jewish  group.  In  some  matters  the  two  groups 
worked  together  and  then  Croghan  served  as  a  connect- 
ing link.  For  over  a  decade  they  were  competitors  at 
Philadelphia,  Lancaster,  Pittsburg,  Kaskaskia,  and 
London.278 

Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  were  the  first  to 
send  cargoes  westward.  In  1765,  they  had  sent  goods 
valued  at  £3,000  with  Croghan's  convoy.  These  were 
lost  in  the  attack  by  the  frontiersmen.  In  1766,  they 
engaged  shipbuilders  to  go  to  Pittsburg  and  build  65 
batteaux;  rivets,  burrs,  oakum,  pitch,  and  other  ship- 
building supplies  were  carried  over  the  mountains. 
One  shipment  of  supplies  for  employees  at  Pittsburg 
included  30  cattle  and  20,000  pounds  of  flour.  Numer- 
ous wagons  and  600  packhorses  were  employed  on  the 
road  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg,  while  on 
the  Ohio  some  300  boatmen  were  soon  busily  engaged 

278  Gratz  Pap.,  ist  ser.,  vii,  io6ff.,  ix,  39,  x,  28,  and  xi,  74;  Byars: 
B.  and  M.  Gratz,  71,  86,  87,  93,  120;  Kohler,  Max:  "The  Franks  Family 
as  British  Army  Contractors",  in  Am.  Jewish  Hist.  Soc,  Pub.,  xi,  i8iff. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  191 

in  the  trade  of  this  firm.  Each  batteau  usually  carried 
five  or  six  men.  Gage  estimated  the  value  of  the  goods 
sent  westward  by  this  firm  in  1766  at  £50,000.  Through 
Benjamin  Franklin,  the  batteaux  and  their  cargoes 
were  insured  at  a  cost  of  two  per  cent  of  their  value  by 
Richard  Neave  and  Son,  merchants  in  London  special- 
izing in  goods  for  the  Indian  trade.  Bands  of  hunters 
were  employed  to  bring  in  furs  and  skins;  they  also 
secured  buffalo  meat  and  tallow  in  what  is  today  Illi- 
nois and  western  Kentucky  for  sale  to  the  garrison  and 
settlers  in  the  Illinois  country.  Several  years  before 
Daniel  Boone  made  his  famous  journey  to  Kentucky, 
Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  were  thus  engaged  in 
the  far  West  in  one  of  the  significant  commercial 
undertakings  of  their  generation.  Johnson  and  Cro- 
ghan  were  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  this  ven- 
ture and  in  the  ventures  of  traders,  for  unless  the  wants 
of  the  Indians  were  supplied  by  the  English  they 
would  continue  their  attachment  to  the  French  and 
Spaniards.  "He  not  only  ought  to  have  the  prayers 
of  our  Congregation,  but  of  every  well  wisher  to  North 
America,  as  the  peace  of  it  is  intimately  concerned  in 
his  undertaking,"  wrote  Baynton  when  Morgan  started 
with  the  first  large  cargo  for  Kaskaskia  in  1766. 

Meanwhile,  Croghan  had  been  preparing  for  a  sec- 
ond journey  to  the  Illinois  country.  He  had  left  John- 
son Hall  for  New  York,  where  he  had  consulted  with 
Gage.  He  then  proceeded  to  Philadelphia  and  in  the 
spring  of  1766,  he  left  for  Pittsburg.  His  presence 
was  needed  in  Illinois  for  although  most  of  the  western 
tribes  had  acknowledged  the  King  of  England  as  their 
father  in  1765,  many  Indians  still  cherished  their  old 
French  alliance.  In  this  they  were  encouraged  by 
French  traders  who  traveled  freely  among  them.    Eng- 


192       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

lish  traders  did  not  yet  risk  their  lives  far  from  the 
posts.  Major  Farmar  had  written  Gage  late  in  1765 
that  "in  order  to  keep  the  different  Nations  Contiguous 
to  this  place  in  Peace  and  quietness  it  would  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  some  Indian  Agent  to  Come  here 
early  in  the  Spring  with  a  Proper  Assortment  of  Pres- 
ents for  them."  279  In  addition  to  the  meeting  at  Fort 
de  Chartres,  Johnson  planned  for  a  meeting  at  Oswego 
with  Pontiac  and  other  representatives  of  the  western 
tribes.  Croghan  was  instructed  to  make  the  arrange- 
ments for  such  a  meeting.  This  he  did ;  Hugh  Craw- 
ford, who  had  been  one  of  Croghan's  associates  in  the 
Indian  trade  before  1755,  conducted  Pontiac  safely  to 
Oswego  where  the  treaty  of  friendship  was  renewed 
and  presents  given.280 

While  Johnson  and  Gage  were  laying  plans  for  hold- 
ing the  conferences  in  Illinois  and  Oswego,  they  also 
agreed,  as  part  of  their  Indian  policy  for  the  year  1766, 
to  put  into  operation  the  plan  for  Indian  management 
as  recommended  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1764.  After 
he  had  received  the  news  of  the  successful  occupation 
of  Illinois,  Johnson  had  written  Stuart  on  September 
!7>  J7^5 :  "This  is  agreeable  Intelligence  but  we  must 
Advantage  ourselves  of  it,  and  by  the  Appointment  of 
the  Commissaries  and  other  Officers  at  the  different 
Posts  keep  up  the  Pacifick  disposition  of  the  Indians 
now  manifest.  Otherwise  all  will  Come  to  Nothing." 
Upon  Croghan's  recommendation,  Alexander  McKee 
was  now  appointed  by  Johnson  as  commissary  at  Pitts- 
burg. Croghan  recommended  Thomas  Smallman,  his 
nephew,  as  commissary  at  Detroit,  but  this  post  went 

279  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxV-2,  657;   idem,  621,  622. 

280  Johnson  to  Croghan,  Feb.  21,  1766,  fn  the  library  of  the  Hist.  Soc. 
of  Oneida  Co.,  N.Y. ;  Johnson  to  Croghan,  Mar.  15,  1766,  in  the  library 
of  the  Am.  Antiq.  Soc. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 93 

to  an  army  officer.  Edward  Cole  was  appointed  com- 
missary for  Illinois.  Gunsmiths,  interpreters,  and 
surgeons  were  also  appointed  for  these  and  other  posts. 
The  salaries  of  commissaries  were  usually  £200,  gun- 
smiths £100,  interpreters  £80,  and  surgeons  £8o.281 
Thus  the  Indian  policy  of  Gage  and  Johnson  in  1766 
entailed  a  great  outlay  for  salaries  and  presents. 

Croghan's  proposed  visit  to  the  Illinois  country  was 
to  be  the  first  formal  visit  of  importance  by  an  Indian 
agent  since  that  country  was  occupied.  Hence  the  In- 
dians would  expect  generous  presents.  Gage  ordered 
twenty  large  silver  medals  made  for  presentation  to  the 
most  influential  chiefs.  Croghan  asked  Gage  for  over 
£3,000  to  be  spent  for  presents  and  requested  that  be- 
fore he  again  entered  the  wilderness  sufficient  cash  be 
advanced  to  cover  his  expenses.  On  his  previous 
journey  he  had  incurred  a  debt  of  £2,037  f°r  which  his 
estate  would  have  been  liable  had  he  been  killed. 
This  debt,  together  with  a  sum  of  £1,450  for  similar 
advances  made  before  1763,  he  asked  Gage  to  pay 
before  the  latter  again  sent  him  to  the  Illinois  country. 

The  delays  in  paying  Croghan's  previous  drafts  had 
so  injured  his  credit  that  merchants  hesitated  to  honor 
any  of  his  new  drafts.  This,  together  with  the  fact 
that  Indian  goods  were  very  hard  to  obtain  because  of 
the  non-importation  agreements,  caused  Croghan  to 
feel  well  satisfied  when  he  succeeded  in  purchasing 
from  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  at  a  reasonable 
price  sufficient  goods  to  be  delivered  to  him  out  of  their 
storehouse  at  Pittsburg.  He  paid  for  them  with  a 
draft  on  Gage.  Croghan  now  waited  impatiently  for 
six  weeks.  His  draft  was  not  honored  for  some  time 
and  his  instructions  were  not  sent.     Neither  was  he 

281  List  of  officers  in  the  Northern  District,  Dec,  1766,  in  C.  O.,  5:  84. 


194       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

supplied  with  other  necessary  funds.  He  wrote  to 
Gage  on  May  I,  1766:  "[I]  have  often  embarked 
my  own  Money  and  Credit  in  the  Service  and  think 
now  it  would  be  best  to  appoint  some  other  person  in 
my  stead  in  whom  greater  confidence  can  be  pleaced". 
He  hoped  that  before  his  return  Gage  and  Johnson 
would  appoint  his  successor. 

His  final  instructions  from  Gage,  dated  April  16, 
1766,  are  significant  for  they  mark  the  beginning  of 
a  return  to  the  same  system  and  attitude  of  mind  which 
had  been  in  existence  before  1763  under  Amherst. 
They  read  in  part  as  follows :  "Bef ore  your  departure 
from  Fort  Pitt  you  will  transmit  me  an  exact  list  of  the 
quantity  of  merchandise,  silver-ware,  wampum,  etc., 
that  you  take  with  you  for  to  conciliate  the  affections 
of  the  Indians  on  the  Mississippi]  and  you  will  follow 
the  mode  before  prescribed  to  you  in  the  distribution 
thereof,  by  delivering  them  in  the  presence  of  the  com- 
manding officers  of  the  several  posts  where  your  pres- 
ence may  be  required  and  obtaining  from  them  certifi- 
cates of  the  delivery  of  the  several  articles  which  you 
will  transmit  to  me  as  accounting  for  the  same."  Ar- 
rangements were  finally  completed  and  Croghan  left 
for  Pittsburg.  Upon  his  arrival  in  May,  1766,  he 
found  the  Indians  in  an  ugly  mood  because  of  murders 
committed  by  frontiersmen  in  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania and  because  of  the  encroachment  of  squatters 
upon  their  lands.  The  old  chiefs  found  it  difficult  to 
restrain  the  young  warriors.  Croghan  with  Major 
Murray,  the  commandant  at  Fort  Pitt,  held  a  treaty 
with  the  Delawares,  Shawnee,  Six  Nations,  and  Hurons 
whereby  they  "happily  renewed  and  confirmed  the 
Chain  of  Friendship  with  them."  Croghan  then  per- 
suaded a  delegation  of  about  fifty  Indians  to  accom- 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 95 

pany  him  to  Illinois.  They  were  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  success  of  his  mission.282 

On  June  18,  a  flotilla  of  seventeen  batteaux  left  Fort 
Pitt  for  the  voyage  of  over  a  thousand  miles.  One 
batteau  carried  Croghan,  his  staff,  and  some  presents. 
Another  was  occupied  by  his  intimate  friends  and  past 
associates,  Captain  Harry  Gordon  and  Ensign  Thomas 
Hutchins.  They  had  been  ordered  by  Gage  to  accom- 
pany Croghan  and  to  report  on  the  condition  of  the 
English  forts,  to  map  the  courses  of  rivers,  and  to  take 
the  latitude  and  longitude  of  various  places.  Two 
batteaux  carried  provisions  for  Fort  de  Chartres.  The 
remaining  thirteen  belonged  to  Baynton,  Wharton,  and 
Morgan  and  carried  large  cargoes  of  Indian  goods. 
This  shipment  was  in  charge  of  George  Morgan. 
These  four  leaders  were  on  the  best  of  terms;  they 
messed  together  morning,  noon,  and  evening  during 
their  long  journey.  It  was  to  be  the  only  time  that 
Croghan  traversed  La  Belle  Riviere  from  its  source  to 
its  mouth,  around  whose  waters  all  the  dreams  and 
ambitions  of  his  life  centered.283 

The  first  stop  was  made  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto 
where  Croghan  held  a  conference  with  two  hundred 
Shawnee,  twenty  of  whom  had  just  returned  from  Illi- 
nois. His  Indian  deputies  distributed  presents  valued 
at  £1,800,  all  of  which  Croghan  purchased  from  Mor- 

282  Pa.  Gazette,  July  10,  1766;  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  to 
Franklin,  Aug.  28,  1766,  in  Franklin  mss.,  Misc.,  1:  50  (Library  of  Congress)  ; 
Croghan's  Journal,  in  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  322-4. 

283  Hutchins:  Topographical  Description  of  Va.,  Md.,  and  N.C.',  III. 
Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  passim;  Croghan  to  Gage,  Jan.  16,  1767,  in  idem,  4875. 
In  this  letter  Croghan  gives  a  long,  formal  report  of  his  mission.  His 
letter  to  Johnson,  dated  January  18,  is  identical  with  it,  save  for  the 
opening  and  closing.  The  latter  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Albany  Institute 
and  Historical  and  Art  Society.  It  is  in  the  handwriting  of  a  clerk,  but 
signed  by  Croghan.  His  letters  to  Gage  and  Johnson  probably  took  the 
place  of  a  journal  for  this  mission. 


196       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

gan.  So  heavily  laden  were  his  batteaux  that  the  sale 
of  these  goods  was  scarcely  noticeable.  The  next  stop 
was  made  at  "Big  Bone  Lick"  in  what  is  now  Boone 
County,  Kentucky.  Here  the  party  leisurely  examined 
the  beaten  buffalo  trace  ten  feet  wide  leading  to  the 
"Great  Licking  Place"  and  the  vast  boneyard  which 
surrounded  it.  Here  were  the  remains  of  numerous 
animals  which  from  time  immemorial  had  been  at- 
tracted by  the  salt  deposits.  There  were  some  remark- 
able bones  which  resembled  the  bones  of  elephants, 
teeth  which  weighed  four  pounds  and  still  had  their 
enamel  well  preserved,  and  ivory  tusks  six  feet  long. 
Croghan  took  with  him  some  of  the  best  specimens 
which  he  later  sent  to  London  to  Lord  Shelburne  and 
Benjamin  Franklin.284 

From  Big  Bone  Lick  Croghan  proceeded  with  sleep- 
less caution.  At  two  different  times,  Indian  deputies 
were  sent  on  ahead  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  dis- 

284  Croghan  to  Shelburne,  Jan.  16,  1767,  in  Shelburne  mss.,  xlviii,  78,  95; 
Franklin  to  Croghan,  Aug.  5,  1767,  in  Writings,  V,  39;  idem,  92.  Croghan's 
shipment  aroused  much  scientific  curiosity  and  speculation  in  England. 
Franklin  sent  a  tooth  to  a  French  savant  to  determine  whether  it  came 
from  a  herbiverous  or  carnivorous  animal.  He  also  made  comparisons 
with  similar  specimens  from  Peru  and  Siberia  and  speculated  that  the 
climate  on  the  Ohio  must  once  have  been  very  warm.  Franklin  presented 
his  collection  to  the  Royal  Society.  Shelburne  presented  his  to  the  British 
Museum  and  promised  to  aid  further  investigation  on  the  Ohio.  Two 
papers  were  later  read  before  the  Royal  Society  on  the  subject.  In  one, 
Collinson,  advanced  the  theory  that  the  specimens  sent  by  Croghan  were 
the  remains  of  a  vast  animal,  different  in  size  and  shape  from  any  animal 
yet  known,  which  probably  browsed  on  trees  and  shrubs.  The  existence 
of  similar  specimens  in  Siberia  was  explained  by  the  washing  northward 
of  carcasses  of  drowned  elephants  from  Africa  and  Asia  at  the  time  of 
the  deluge.  "But  what  system,  or  hypothesis  can,  with  any  degree  of 
probability,  account  for  these  remains  of  elephants  being  found  in  America 
.  .  .  is  submitted  to  this  learned  Society",  concluded  Collinson.  -  Royal 
Society  of  London,  Philosophical  Transactions,  lvu,  464*?.,  and  lviii,  34ft*. ; 
Hutchins  Papers,  1,  60.  -  Croghan  was  also  interested  in  the  origin  of 
oyster  shells  which  he  found  in  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  Halsey,  Francis 
W.:    A  Tour  of  Four  Great  Rivers,  47. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 07 

aster  of  1765  and  to  ask  the  Illinois  tribes  to  assemble 
to  meet  him.  Finally,  after  a  long  and  fatiguing 
journey  during  the  heat  of  midsummer,  he  arrived 
safely  at  Fort  de  Chartres  on  August  20.  After  meet- 
ing Colonel  Reed,  Croghan  with  his  Indian  deputies 
went  to  Kaskaskia.  Here,  in  a  preliminary  confer- 
ence, with  Croghan  acting  as  mediator,  the  Northern 
and  Western  Confederacies  made  peace.  The  latter 
acknowledged  that  they  had  transgressed  in  making  the 
attack  in  1765  and  they  accepted  the  status  of  "younger 
brothers"  to  the  Northern  Confederacy.  The  main 
conference  was  held  at  Fort  de  Chartres,  beginning 
August  25.  About  one  thousand  Indians  were  present, 
representing  the  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Peoria,  Michi- 
gamea,  Piankashaw,  Wea,  Kickapoo,  Mascoutens, 
Miami,  Sacs,  and  Foxes.  These  were  grouped  into 
twenty-two  tribes  which  made  it  difficult  to  carry  on 
negotiations.  Three  tribes,  influenced  by  the  French, 
did  not  come  to  make  peace  till  chiefs  returning  from 
the  main  conference  urged  them  to  do  so. 

In  these  conferences,  Croghan's  aims  were  to  secure 
information,  to  keep  open  communications  between 
Pittsburg,  Detroit,  Michillimackinac  and  Illinois,  and 
above  all  to  encourage  an  extensive  trade.  He  sent 
deputies  across  the  Mississippi  inviting  the  Missouri 
and  Arkansas  Indians  to  come  to  Kaskaskia  to  trade. 
The  Indians  ratified  and  confirmed  the  peace  made  in 
1765.  They  agreed  to  acknowledge  the  King  of  Eng- 
land as  their  father,  to  return  prisoners  and  stolen 
horses,  and  to  permit  the  establishment  of  posts.  Pres- 
ents were  then  distributed.  This  peace  lasted  as  long 
as  the  British  flag  remained  in  Illinois.  There  were 
minor  outbreaks  at  times  and  the  British  commandant 
often  feared  a  general  Indian  war,  but  not  even  the 


198       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

murder  of  Pontiac  caused  an  attack  on  the  English. 
Much  of  the  credit  for  this  condition  belongs  to  Cro- 
ghan  for  his  skillful  and  courageous  management  in 
1765  and  1766. 

Croghan  had  found  upon  his  arrival  that  most  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers  at  Fort  de  Chartres  were  suffering 
from  ague  and  malaria  fever -the  curse  of  Illinois. 
He,  himself,  soon  contracted  the  fever  and  became  too 
weak  to  write.  Instead  of  attempting  the  tiresome 
journey  overland  to  Pittsburg,  he  borrowed  a  batteau 
from  Morgan  and  accompanied  Gordon  down  the 
Mississippi.  After  touching  at  New  Orleans,  Pensa- 
cola,  Mobile,  Havanna,  and  Charleston,  he  arrived  at 
New  York  in  January,  1767.  He  made  a  journey  to 
Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  during  the  following  spring 
and  then  proceeded  to  Johnson  Hall.  Here  he  assisted 
Johnson  in  conferences  with  the  Six  Nations  during  the 
summer  of  1767.285 

After  his  arrival  in  New  York  in  January,  1767, 
Croghan  tendered  Gage  his  resignation  as  Deputy 
Superintendent.  Various  factors  were  responsible  for 
his  action.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  accused  of  cor- 
rupt relations  with  the  firm  of  Baynton,  Wharton,  and 
Morgan.286     These  charges  were  made  in  1765  when 

285  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan's  Account  Bk.  D ;  Pa.  Gazette,  Feb. 
12,  1767;  Day,  Richard  E.:  Calendar  of  Sir  William  Johnson  mss.,  335,  340; 
Croghan  to  Franklin,  Oct.  2,  1767,  in  Franklin  mss.,  ii,  97 ;  Croghan  to 
Franklin,  Jan.  27,  1767,  in  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  501. 

286  Johnson  to  Croghan,  Apr.  4,  1765,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxiv,  256;  Pa. 
Arch.,  iv,  215,  216,  226;  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  61.  The  convoy  was  said  to 
have  taken  a  road  through  the  woods  to  avoid  showing  a  pass  at  Fort 
Loudoun.  However,  there  may  have  been  other  reasons  for  selecting  the 
route  followed  for  it  would  be  impossible  to  avoid  showing  a  pass  at  other 
forts,  particularly  at  Fort  Pitt.  It  was  also  charged  that  affidavits  were 
made  in  Philadelphia  by  representatives  of  the  firm  that  the  goods  were  for 
the  use  of  the  crown,  but  that  later  Wharton  went  to  see  Johnson  and 
stated  that  the  goods  were  the  private  property  of  his  firm.  These  state- 
ments   are   not   necessarily   contradictory. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  1 99 

Croghan  permitted  this  firm  to  send  westward  a  large 
cargo  of  goods  for  the  Indian  trade  under  cover  of 
his  pass  for  presents.  This  would  enable  it  to  be  the 
first  to  take  advantage  of  the  legal  opening  of  the  trade. 
Croghan  knew  that  it  was  highly  important  that  the 
wants  of  the  western  Indians  be  promptly  supplied 
by  English  traders  as  soon  as  Illinois  should  be  occu- 
pied. Therefore,  when  this  firm  inquired  whether 
trade  would  be  permitted  after  the  occupation  of  Illi- 
nois and  whether  they  might  send  a  cargo  to  be  lodged 
in  the  King's  store  at  Pittsburg  until  trade  was  opened, 
Croghan  referred  the  matter  to  Bouquet.  The  latter 
gave  his  approval  to  such  an  arrangement.  Later, 
Croghan  admitted  that  he  made  a  mistake  to  have  these 
goods  and  his  presents  pass  westward  in  the  same 
convoy.287 

The  unscrupulous  business  methods  employed  by 
Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan,  their  relations  with 
the  Indian  department,  and  their  personal  relations 
with  Croghan  made  it  easy  to  bring  charges  of  cor- 
ruption against  Croghan.  This  firm  tried  to  secure 
the  contract  to  supply  the  garrison  at  Fort  de  Chartres 
by  offering  a  bribe  to  an  under-secretary  in  London. 
With  a  view  to  increasing  their  profits  from  the  Illinois 
trade,  Morgan  wrote  to  his  senior  partners:  "It 
would  be  well  worth  your  while  to  make  Mr  Sinnot 
or  Mr.  Stewart  [Stuart]  a  present  of  a  Thousand 
Pounds  to  put  a  stop  to  the  French  coming  up  the 
Mississippi. "  288  For  a  few  years  after  Croghan's  re- 
turn from  England,  his  personal  wants  while  in  the 

287  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Nov.,  1765,  in  C.  O.,  5:  66;  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  x, 
509,  522;  Johnson  to  Gage,  Apr.  3,  1767,  in  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  11,  846; 
Bouquet  to  Gage,  Mar.  29,  1765,  in  Bouquet  Coll.,  A7:  129. 

288  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  473 ;  Morgan  to  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan, 
July  ii,  1768,  in  Gratz  Pap.,  1st  ser.,  vm,  62. 


200       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

West  were  supplied  by  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Mor- 
gan. They  served  as  his  bankers  and  from  them  he 
secured  such  articles  as  the  following:  a  gold  watch, 
a  barrel  of  loaf  sugar,  green  Bohea  tea,  a  barrel  of 
pork,  a  box  of  candles,  some  linen,  calico,  and  flour. 
He  was  also  closely  associated  with  this  firm  through 
land  operations.  "Our  Company  you  know  Sir,  are 
much  indebted  to  him,  in  respect  of  Landed  Matters, 
therefore  their  Gratitude  would  naturally  oblige  them 
to  cordially  wish  him  well  in  every  respect,"  wrote 
Baynton.  In  1763,  Croghan  conveyed  to  this  firm 
various  lands  on  the  frontier  for  which  he  was  paid  in 
Indian  goods;  these  Johnson  purchased  for  the  Indian 
department.  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  secured 
most  of  the  goods  they  used  in  the  Indian  trade  from 
Richard  Neave  and  Son  in  London.  When  Croghan 
drew  up  a  list  of  goods,  suitable  for  presents  to  the 
Indians,  he  recommended  that  they  be  purchased  from 
Neave  and  Son  since  they  were  best  acquainted  with 
choosing  and  sorting  Indian  goods.289 

Most  of  the  presents  which  were  distributed  in  large 
amounts  at  Pittsburg  and  Fort  de  Chartres  in  1765, 

1766,  and  1767  were  furnished  by  Baynton,  Wharton, 
and  Morgan.  They  furnished  McKee  and  Murray 
with  presents  valued  at  over  £1,200.  These  were  given 
to  the  Indian  deputies  who  went  to  Johnson  Hall,  to 
those  who  went  with  the  various  expeditions  to  Illinois, 
and  to  the  Shawnee  as  gifts  to  condole  them  for  the  loss 
of  their  chiefs  who  were  killed  while  with  Croghan  in 
1765.     At  Pittsburg  they  also  furnished  Croghan  with 

289  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan's  Account  Books,  particularly  No. 
D;  John  Baynton  to  Abel  James,  Dec.  13,  1769,  in  Baynton's  Private 
Letter  Bk. ;  Johnson  mss.  (111.),  ix,  2  and  35;  List  of  Goods  for  the  Indian 
trade,   in   Ohio   Co.   mss.,  1,  37;   Croghan  to  R.   Neave   and   Son,  June   24, 

1767,  in  Dreer  Coll. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  201 

presents  valued  at  £459,  10s.  3d.  For  this  sum  Cro- 
ghan  gave  them  his  personal  note  guaranteeing  pay- 
ment. Croghan's  total  expenses  on  his  second  journey 
to  Illinois  amounted  to  £8,408,  9s.  7>4d.  of  which 
£6,480  went  to  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan.  Cole, 
the  commissary  at  Illinois,  was  under  special  obliga- 
tions to  this  firm  and  not  only  purchased  from  them 
large  amounts  of  goods  for  presents,  but  also  supported 
all  their  undertakings  in  Illinois.  He  with  Colonel 
Reed  purchased  from  them  large  amounts  of  goods  for 
the  Indians.  This  firm  honored  drafts  for  the  salaries 
of  Indian  officials  in  the  West.290 

Evidently,  there  was  a  close  connection  between  "big 
business"  and  the  government  in  the  West.  The  evi- 
dence discovered  does  not  show  that  Croghan  received 
pecuniary  rewards  for  his  actions,  nor  does  it  enable 
us  to  fathom  the  motives  impelling  his  conduct.  He 
cleared  himself  of  all  charges  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  Gage.  Johnson  wrote:  "I  believe  he  has  been 
used  very  ill,  and  traduced  at  a  time  when  he  was  doing 
his  utmost  for  the  service".  Croghan,  himself,  felt 
keenly  the  "false  and  scandalous  Reports"  which  he 
asserted  were  circulated  by  enemies  and  rival  traders.291 

The  second  reason  why  Croghan  tendered  his  res- 
ignation in  1767,  was  because  of  the  new  attitude  of 
the  home  government  and  Gage  towards  the  Indian 
department.  This  attitude  was  rapidly  crystalizing  in 
1766  and  1767  and  rendered  futile  the  efforts  of  John- 
son to  have  his  department  established  on  a  firm,  inde- 
pendent basis  through  an  act  of  Parliament.  As  it 
existed,  it  had  no  definite  funds  nor  adequate  salaries; 

290  III.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  258,  283,  330,  364,  367,  388,  473,  511.  Croghan's 
note,  June  i,  1767,  in  the  library  of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa. 

291  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Nov.  1765,  in  C.  O.,  5:  66;  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y., 
11,  846. 


202       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

it  was  at  the  mercy  of  executive  caprice;  and  it  lacked 
authority  based  on  law.  His  own  powers  and  those  of 
his  deputies  and  commissaries  were  "very  trifling,  un- 
certain and  in  general  disregarded  and  disputed." 
Should  they  attempt  to  detain  an  Indian  trader,  a 
frontiersman,  or  land  speculator  who  was  defrauding 
the  Indians,  they  themselves  would  be  liable  to  be 
prosecuted  and  thrown  into  jail.  The  beginning  of 
the  decline  of  the  Indian  department  was  evident  when 
Shelburne  wrote  to  him:  "The  System  of  Indian 
Affairs  as  managed  by  Superintendants  must  ultimately 
be  under  his  Direction.  .  .  It  is  therefore  necessary 
that  the  Superintendants  should  take  the  orders  of 
the  Commander  in  Chief  on  all  material  Occa- 
sions.    .     ." 292 

The  plans  for  a  strong  Indian  department  were  in 
part  frustrated  by  factional  party  strife  in  London. 
Shelburne,  who  had  become  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Southern  Department  in  1766,  believed  that  the  plan 
of  1764  did  not  meet  the  needs  of  those  interested  in 
the  Indian  trade  and  he  favored  less  interference  by 
the  government  in  Indian  affairs.  Barrington,  who 
had  become  Secretary  of  War  in  1765,  formulated  a 
plan  for  dealing  with  the  West  in  which  he  stated  that 
"The  Country  on  the  Westward  of  our  Frontier  quite 
to  the  Mississippi  was  intended  to  be  a  Desert  for  the 
Indians  to  hunt  in  and  inhabit."  He  favored  the 
restriction  of  settlement  to  the  proclamation  line  of 
1763,  the  abandonment  by  the  army  of  the  numerous 
small  posts  in  the  interior  and  the  concentration  of 
troops  nearer  the  seacoast,  and  decreasing  the  powers 

2Q2Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  n,  835,  845,  851,  883;  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  450; 
N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  872,  891,  964.  When  Roberts  at  Michillimackinac 
attempted  to  enforce  the  proclamation  of  1763  he  was  sued  and  im- 
prisoned. -  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxix,  89-95. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  203 

of  the  Indian  department.  The  increasing,  sinister 
influence  of  the  Bedford  faction  was  also  beginning  to 
work  against  the  success  of  Johnson  and  Croghan's 
plans.  Gage's  attitude  was  naturally  influenced  by  the 
changing  attitude  of  the  ministry  in  London.293 

He  was  also  influenced  by  the  failure  of  the  antici- 
pated boom  in  the  Indian  trade  to  materialize  after 
Illinois  was  occupied.  In  return  for  the  large  ex- 
penditures which  this  occupation  entailed,  England 
was  expected  to  reap  the  benefits  of  a  large  trade  from 
this  region.  The  Indians,  however,  prefered  to  trade 
with  their  old  friends  and  the  Mississippi  afforded  the 
natural  outlet  to  the  sea.  Hence,  New  Orleans  and 
Paris,  and  not  Philadelphia  and  London,  profited  from 
the  peltry  trade  of  Illinois.  The  disillusionment  of 
Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  was  bitter.  Wharton 
was  responsible  for  their  entry  into  this  field;  he,  and 
not  Morgan  was  originally  scheduled  to  take  charge  of 
this  trade.  The  buoyant  optimism  of  Morgan  and 
Baynton  in  1766  was  soon  displaced  by  deep  pessimism. 
Morgan  looked  upon  himself  as  "a  son  of  affliction" 
when  he  had  to  return  "to  the  accursed  Illinois". 
Baynton  wrote  of  "our  business  in  this  hateful  Coun- 
try" and  he  spoke  of  Morgan's  journey  in  1769  as 
"another  Ordeal  Tryal".  In  1770  he  writes:  "Mr. 
Morgan  setts  off  to  Day  or  to  Morrow  for  that  shock- 
ing Country  the  Illinois  -  My  Familys  Distress  on  this 
grevious  Occasion  beggars  Description."  As  a  result 
of  their  failure  in  Illinois  and  their  losses  in  1763  and 
1765,  this  firm  had  to  conduct  its  business  under  the 
supervision  of  its  creditors  and  a  bitter  personal  feud 
arose  between  Wharton  and  Morgan.  Gage  had 
sensed  the  situation  as  early  as   1766.294     Upon  Cro- 

293  Alvord,   Clarence  W.:    Mississippi   Valley  in  British  Politics. 

294  Morgan  to  Wharton,  Jan.  13,   1772,  in  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Mor- 


204       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ghan's  return  from  his  second  journey  to  Illinois  he 
found  that  Gage  anticipated  but  little  benefit  to  Eng- 
lish trade  from  the  occupation  of  Illinois.  Croghan 
thought  that  Gage's  opinion  was  influenced  by  New 
York  merchants  who  were  illicitly  supplying  the 
French  traders  at  New  Orleans. 

The  lack  of  necessary  funds  was  the  main  reason  for 
the  refusal  to  favor  the  establishment  of  a  strong  Indian 
department.  As  long  as  the  Seven  Years  War  was 
undecided,  money  was  not  difficult  to  obtain.  But 
after  the  fighting  was  over  and  England  found  herself 
"reeling  under  a  national  debt  of  nearly  140  millions," 
a  policy  of  economy  and  retrenchment  was  adopted. 
In  1765,  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  ordered  Gage  "to 
issue  no  more  warrants  nor  to  incurr  any  farther  Ex- 
pense, but  in  Cases  of  urgency  wherein  there  is  not 
time  for  knowing  his  Majesties  pleasure,  even  then  the 
reasonableness  of  accounts  are  to  be  Judged  of  at  home 
and  approved  or  rejected  as  they  shall  see  fitting.  And 
also  Voucher's  must  be  produced  for  every  article  of 
Expense,  even  for  the  Delivery  of  them  to  the  Indians." 
This  order  made  the  royal  officials  personally  respon- 
sible for  all  expenditures  not  fixed  by  Parliament  or 
previously  approved  by  the  crown.  It  greatly  per- 
plexed and  embarrassed  Gage,  Bouquet,  and  Johnson 
in  the  performance  of  their  duties.295 

Croghan  first  felt  the  effect  of  the  new  system  after 
his  journey  to  Illinois  in  1765.  Thedebtof  £2,037  which 
he  had  incurred  at  Fort  Pitt  was  very  tardily  paid 
in  four  installments;  the  last  one  being  made  almost 

gan's  Letter  Bk.  A;  John  Baynton  to  Abel  Smith  Nov.  28  and  Dec.  13, 
1769,  and  Feb.  20,  1770,  in  Baynton's  Private  Letter  Bk. ;  Joseph  Galloway 
to  Franklin,  Sept.  6,  1767,  in  Franklin  mss.,  xlviii,  134. 

295  Johnson  to  Croghan,  Apr.  4,  1765,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxiv,  256;  ///. 
Hist.  Coll.,  X,  453,  502,  527;  idem,  XI,  122,  501. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  20$ 

two  years  after  his  personal  note  guaranteeing  payment 
was  due.  His  losses  and  expenses  resulting  from  the 
attack  in  1765  amounted  to  £1,732,  us.  iod.  Gage 
refused  to  pay  this  and  other  bills  until  they  had  been 
referred  to  England.  Croghan  felt  very  bitter  at  such 
treatment.  He  wrote  to  Johnson  that  Gage  "Did  Nott 
Trate  Lift  Freser  in  that  Maner  fer  on  his  Return  he 
paid  him  all  his  expenses  and  Made  him  a  present  of 
Six  Hundred  Pounds,  Butt  its  to  be  Considered  that 
he  is  a  Gentleman  of  the  army  and  Not  an  Indian 
agent."  Croghan  was  forced  to  send  his  account  to 
Gage  with  a  memorial  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury; 
these  papers  Gage  then  forwarded  to  London  with  his 
endorsement.  Croghan  wrote  to  Franklin  asking  him 
to  support  this  memorial.296 

The  year  1765  brought  new  hopes  to  imperial  offi- 
cials both  in  England  and  in  America.  The  passage 
of  the  Stamp  Act  was  expected  to  result  in  supplying 
sorely  needed  funds.  Johnson  and  Croghan  now  had 
hopes  that  the  Indian  department  might  be  established 
as  planned  in  1764.  But  the  opposition  to  the  Stamp 
Act  soon  caused  such  hopes  to  vanish.  The  Lords  of 
the  Treasury  were  now  more  than  ever  alarmed  at  the 
growing  expenses  in  America;  heavy  accounts  and 
drafts  were  continually  coming  in.  Gage  scrutinized 
and  curtailed  expenses  as  much  as  possible  at  every 
post  and  in  every  department  under  his  command. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  just  at  this  time  the  expendi- 
tures of  the  Indian  department  should  be  heavy.  After 
a  conference  with  Croghan  in  New  York  in  January, 
1767,  Gage  wrote  to  Johnson:  "Mr.  Croghan  has  in- 
curred a  very  great  Expense  in  this  Tour  to  the  Ilinois, 

296  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  n,  852;  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Feb.  23,  1767,  in 
///.  Hi st.  Coll,  xi,  513. 


206       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

of  which  he  is  now  giving  his  Account."  Cole,  whom 
Croghan  had  left  in  charge  in  Illinois,  sent  in  accounts 
totaling  from  £6,000  to  over  £10,000  annually.  On 
one  occasion  Gage  wrote  to  Johnson  concerning  Cole's 
account:  "This  is  really  so  monstrous  an  account  that 
I  hardly  know  what  can  be  done  with  it."  Mean- 
while, Major  Rogers,  the  commandant  at  Michilli- 
mackinac,  was  buying  immense  quantities  of  goods 
from  English  traders  and  presenting  them  to  the  In- 
dians who  flocked  to  his  post  in  response  to  his  invita- 
tions. Over  7,000  came  -  the  largest  number  that  ever 
assembled  at  this  post.  Even  the  chiefs  of  the  far  dis- 
tant Sioux  came.  When  the  local  commissary  objected 
to  his  lavish  gifts,  Rogers  promptly  degraded  and  con- 
fined him.  Rogers  sent  in  his  account  of  over  £5,000 
to  Gage,  but  Gage  and  Johnson,  who  were  not  pleased 
with  the  manner  of  his  appointment,  refused  to  pay 
them.  In  September,  1767,  Gage  ordered  Rogers  to 
meet  Croghan  at  Detroit;  the  latter  bore  a  letter  from 
Gage  telling  Rogers  of  his  dismissal.297 

Johnson  feared  that  in  the  zeal  for  economy  the 
gains  which  had  been  achieved  at  such  great  costs 
might  be  lost.  He  assured  Gage  that  with  the  work  of 
occupation  completed,  expenditures  should  greatly 
decrease.  He  instructed  all  commissaries  to  reduce 
their  expenses;  he  instructed  Gorham  to  meet  the  In- 
dians in  council  only  once  a  year;  and  he  wrote  Gage 
that  he  had  "given  Mr.  Croghan  positive  orders  for 
retrenching  Expenses  and  I  am  certain  he  will  Strictly 
follow  them.  .  ."  Johnson  feared,  however,  that 
such  a  policy  might  again  lead  to  disaster  as  in  1763. 
In  spite  of  Johnson's  assurances  Gage  wrote  to  Shel- 

297  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  n,  835,  850,  863,  865;  Clements,  William  L.: 
"Journal  of  Major  Robert  Rogers,"  in  Proc.  of  the  Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  1918; 
Hough:    Journals  of  Major  Robert  Rogers,  223. 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  WEST  207 

burne  that  "tho'  I  hope  many  Expenses  before  incur- 
red, May  now  be  retrenched,  yet  I  fear  those  Depart- 
ments will  be  always  a  heavy  Charge."  He  suggested 
that  the  Board  of  Trade  set  a  definite  limit  to  the  num- 
ber of  officials  in  the  Indian  department,  to  the  num- 
ber of  councils  to  be  held,  and  to  the  size  of  the  pres- 
ents to  be  delivered.  Since  the  colonies  had  been  re- 
lieved of  the  costs  of  managing  the  Indian  trade  he 
suggested  that  they  ought  to  contribute  a  proportionate 
sum  and  "lighten  a  heavy  Burthen  bore  by  the  Mother 
Country".  A  few  months  later,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
after  having  dined  with  Shelburne  and  Conway,  wrote 
confidentially  to  his  son:  "They  have  it  in  contem- 
plation to  return  the  management  of  Indian  affairs  into 
the  hands  of  the  several  provinces  .  .  .  the  treas- 
ury being  tired  with  the  immense  drafts  of  the  super- 
intendents, etc."  298 

Such  were  the  forces  at  work  which  created  the  con- 
ditions that  caused  Croghan  to  tender  to  Gage  his  res- 
ignation in  January,  1767.  As  soon  as  his  resignation 
became  known,  applications  for  his  position  began  to 
come  to  Johnson.  After  tendering  his  resignation, 
Croghan  proceeded  to  Johnson  Hall.  It  was  probably 
through  an  appeal  to  personal  friendship,  loyalty  to 
their  King,  and  to  personal  gain  that  Johnson  per- 
suaded Croghan  to  withdraw,  for  the  second  time,  his 
resignation.  On  April  1,  1767,  Johnson  was  able  to 
write  Gage :  "Mr.  Croghan  is  now  here  and  is  to  con- 
tinue in  his  office.  .  ."  Henceforth,  Croghan  dele- 
gated most  of  the  work  in  his  district  to  McKee  and 
other  subordinates;  a  tacit  understanding  with  Gage 
and  Johnson  existed  whereby  Croghan's  services  were 
to  be  held  in  reserve  for  important  negotiations.     This 

298  Benjamin  Franklin  to  William  Franklin,  Aug.  28,  1767,  in  Writings, 
V,  45 ;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vn,  981 ;  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  553. 


208       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

enabled  him  to  draw  his  salary  and  give  most  of  his 
time  to  his  numerous  land  operations  which  were 
becoming  highly  important.299 

By  her  victories  during  the  Seven  Years  War,  Eng- 
land secured  legal  possession  of  the  region  extending 
from  the  Appalachians  to  the  Mississippi  and  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  Great  Lakes.  To  secure  a  de  facto 
control  over  this  region,  it  was  necessary  that  the  French 
forts  controlling  strategic  points  in  the  heart  of  the 
Indian  country  be  occupied  by  English  garrisons,  that 
the  Indian  tribes  should  transfer  their  alliance  from 
the  French  to  the  English,  and  that  the  latter  reopen 
the  Indian  trade  and  conduct  it  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  the  natives.  It  was  to  this  work  that  Croghan  gave 
his  attention  from  1758  to  1766.  His  operations  cen- 
tered at  Pittsburg,  though  he  held  numerous  Indian 
conferences  at  various  places  in  the  region  limited  by 
Johnson  Hall,  Detroit,  Kaskaskia,  and  Pittsburg. 
Though  the  Indian  department  had  rendered  valuable 
services  during  this  period,  by  1766  its  prestige  and 
powers  had  begun  to  decline,  largely  as  a  result  of  the 
failure  of  the  plans  of  the  imperial  government  to 
tax  the  colonies.  Thereafter,  Croghan's  major  inter- 
ests ceased  to  be  associated  with  his  official  position. 
The  completion  of  the  work  of  occupation  in  1766, 
opened  the  first  business  connections  between  the  Illi- 
nois country  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  it  greatly 
stimulated  the  desire  of  traders,  land  speculators,  and 
settlers  to  exploit  the  Great  West. 

299  Day:  Celendar  of  Sir  William  Johnson  mss.,  343,  348,  350;  Johnson 
mss.,  xviii,  133  and  xxi,  68;  Johnson  to  Gage,  Apr.  1,  1767,  in  Doc.  Hist,  of 
N.Y.,  11,  845. 


Deputy  Superintendent:  the  Irresistible 
Pressure  upon  the  Indian's  Land, 

1759-1772 

Towards  the  end  of  the  period  during  which  the 
West  was  occupied,  Indian  politics  and  trade  were 
displaced  by  land  relations  as  the  most  important  phase 
of  Indian  affairs.  As  a  result  of  victory  in  a  great 
war  the  British  subject  felt  that  he  possessed  the  right 
to  exploit  the  West.  The  prize  available  was 
described  by  Franklin  as  follows :  "The  great  country 
back  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Ohio,  and  between  that  river  and  the  Lakes  is  now 
well  known  .  .  .  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  North 
America,  for  the  extreme  richness  and  fertility  of  the 
land ;  the  healthy  temperature  of  the  air,  and  the  mild- 
ness of  the  climate ;  the  plenty  of  hunting,  fishing,  and 
fowling,  the  facility  of  trade  with  the  Indians;  and  the 
vast  convenience  of  inland  navigation.  .  .  From 
these  natural  advantages  it  must  undoubtedly,  (perhaps 
in  less  than  another  century)  become  a  populous  and 
powerful  dominion.     .     ." 300 

The  frontiersmen  were  just  getting  ready  to  enter  this 
realm  of  wild  and  waste  fertility  when  war  with 
France  broke  out  again.  Good  lands  east  of  the  moun- 
tains had  been  engrossed  by  settlers  or  speculators  and 
fertile  lands  were  rare  among  the  mountains.     Vir- 

300  "piaI1  for  settling  two  Western  Colonies  in  North  America  with 
Reasons  for  the  Plan,"  in  Writings  (ed.  Smyth),  m,  358. 


2IO       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ginians  had  organized  the  Ohio  Company  in  1749  and 
the  Penns  had  arranged  for  a  large  Indian  purchase 
in  1754.  A  few  log  cabins  began  to  appear  along  the 
upper  Juniata  and  its  Raystown  branch,  and  far  out  in 
the  Monongahela  valley. 

During  the  period  from  1754  to  1765  various  military 
and  political  conditions  served  to  drive  back  these  nor- 
mal forces  of  expansion.  First,  there  was  the  war  itself 
which  caused  a  bloody  retreat  all  along  the  frontier. 
Then  came  the  treaty  at  Easton  in  1758,  with  its  prom- 
ise to  the  Indian  that  his  lands  beyond  the  mountains 
would  not  be  settled.  In  1761,  came  Bouquet's  procla- 
mation enforcing  this  treaty.301  In  the  same  year  the 
imperial  government  assumed  control  in  royal  colonies 
of  all  purchases  of  land  from  the  Indians.  In  1763, 
came  Pontiac's  war  and  the  proclamation  of  October  7. 
To  this  were  added  governors'  proclamations  and  col- 
onial laws  forbidding  settlement  in  the  Indian  country. 
One  example  of  the  result  of  all  of  these  conditions 
is  the  fact  that  no  new  counties  were  organized  in 
Pennsylvania  during  the  period  from  1750  to  1771. 

The  immediate  motive  back  of  these  prohibitions  was 
the  desire  to  avoid  further  Indian  wars.  No  sooner 
were  the  English  established  at  Fort  Pitt  than  the 
normal  westward  movement  began  again.  On  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1762,  Bouquet  wrote  to  Governor  Fauquier  of 
Virginia:  "For  two  years  past  these  Lands  have  been 
over  run  by  a  Number  of  Vagabonds,  who  under  pre- 
tense of  hunting,  were  Making  Settlements  in  several 
parts  of  them,  of  which  the  Indians  made  grievious  and 
repeated  Complaints,  as  being  Contrary  to  the  Treaty 
made  with   them   at   Easton.     .     .     Notwithstanding 

301  The  proclamation  with  relating  correspondence  is  printed  in  the 
Canadian  Archives  Report,   i88q,  72-80. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     211 

what  I  have  done,  they  still  in  a  less  degree,  Continue 
the  same  Practices,  and  two  days  ago  an  Indian 
.  .  .  complained  to  me  that  he  had  discovered  ten 
New  Hutts  in  the  Woods  and  many  Fields  cleared  for 
Corn."  Bouquet's  proclamation  forbade  hunting  or 
settling  on  lands  west  of  the  mountains  unless  by  per- 
mission of  the  commander-in-chief  or  of  a  governor; 
violators  were  to  be  court-martialed  at  Fort  Pitt  and 
have  their  cabins  burned.  Bouquet,  like  a  true  soldier, 
tried  to  enforce  his  order,  but  it  was  a  physical  impos- 
sibility to  be  prepared  at  all  times  to  send  troops  to 
any  place  in  the  wilderness  when  needed.  Virginia 
land  speculators,  greedy  to  engross  the  best  lands,  tried 
to  bribe  Bouquet  by  inviting  him  to  become  a  member 
of  the  Ohio  Company  and  thus  secure  a  claim  to 
25,000  acres;  when  the  gallant  Bouquet  declined  to  be 
concerned  they  made  it  so  unpleasant  for  him  that  he 
asked  to  be  removed  from  this  region. 

Bouquet  here  encountered  one  of  those  great  social 
movements  which  roll  on  in  their  might,  unimpeded 
by  laws,  by  proclamations,  by  treaties,  or  by  battles 
lost.  These  were  mere  incidents  -  temporary  obstruc- 
tions to  be  overcome  by  the  irresistible  westward  move- 
ment of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Its  vital  dynamic  forces 
were  typified  in  the  impulses  of  unknown  and  obscure 
men  seeking  new  homes  in  the  wilderness  -  men  whom 
Bouquet  called  "Vagabonds"  and  Gage  "Lawless 
Banditti",  living  under  "loose  and  disorderly  govern- 
ments". In  vain  did  Lord  Hillsborough  announce  the 
mercantilist  policy  that  it  was  for  the  best  interests 
of  Great  Britain  to  confine  the  colonists  along  the  sea- 
coast  where  millions  of  acres  were  still  uncultivated. 
"...  I  have  learned  from  experience",  wrote  Gov- 
ernor   Dunmore    of    Virginia,    "that    the    established 


212       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Authority  of  any  government  in  America,  and  the 
policy  of  Government  at  home,  are  both  insufficient  to 
restrain  the  Americans ;  and  that  they  do  and  will 
remove  as  their  avidity  and  restlessness  incite  them. 
They  acquire  no  attachment  to  Place :  But  wandering 
about  Seems  engrafted  in  their  Nature;  and  it  is  a 
weakness  incident  to  it  that  they  Should  forever 
imagine  the  Lands  further  off,  are  Still  better  than 
those  upon  which  they  are  already  Settled."  302 

Official  exceptions  to  the  general  prohibition  of  set- 
tlement in  the  Indian  country  were  made  only  for  mili- 
tary bounty  claimants  and  for  settlers  around  inland 
forts  and  along  the  lines  of  communications  leading 
to  such  forts.  Along  no  other  line  of  communication 
were  these  as  important  as  along  Forbes's  Road  and 
Braddock's  Road.  The  traveler  who  started  from  Fort 
Pitt  for  Philadelphia  would  travel  fifty-six  miles 
through  the  Indian  country  before  he  came  to  the  next 
fort,  Ligonier;  forty-five  miles  farther  east  was  Fort 
Bedford,  nestled  among  the  mountains;  beyond  this, 
as  he  approached  Fort  Loudoun,  log  cabins  began  to 
appear  with  greater  frequency  and  after  he  reached 
Carlisle  the  country  assumed  a  settled  appearance. 
The  garrisons  of  these  forts  usually  consisted  of  from 
twenty  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Clarkson  passed 
over  this  road  in  1766  and  left  a  diary  describing  his 
journey.303  In  it  he  tells  of  meeting  galloping  expres- 
ses, small  groups  of  soldiers  going  from  one  post  to 
another,  droves  of  cattle,  wagon  loads  of  pork  in  bar- 
rels, packhorses  loaded  with  flour  -  all  for  the  western 
garrisons,  and  horse  loads  of  furs  and  skins  bound  for 
Philadelphia.     At  night  he  stopped  at  flea-infested  log 

302Thwaites  and  Kellogg:  Documentary  History  of  Lord  Dunmore's 
War,  371. 

303  Printed  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  XI,  3555. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     213 

taverns  or  camped  in  the  open.  This  was  the  road 
which  Croghan  traversed  so  many  times. 

In  order  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  garrisons  and  to 
provide  conveniences  along  the  line  of  communica- 
tions the  commander-in-chief  or  the  general  in  charge 
of  the  western  district  granted,  free  of  charge,  licenses 
to  settle  along  the  roads  and  around  the  forts.  The 
consent  of  the  Indians  to  such  settlements  was  secured 
without  difficulty.  Usually  the  land  within  cannon 
shot  of  a  fort  was  considered  as  belonging  to  it,  but  at 
Fort  Pitt  a  larger  area  was  secured.  Here  Gage  pro- 
posed to  grant  lands  in  100  to  150  acre  tracts  on  the 
semi-feudal  condition  that  the  settler  supply  annually 
a  specified  number  of  hogs  or  cattle,  or  a  quantity  of 
provisions  to  the  garrison.  Such  military  licenses  gave 
to  the  holder  the  first  opportunity  to  secure  a  title  in  fee 
simple  when  the  lands  should  formally  be  opened  to 
settlement  by  the  Penns  or  by  the  crown.304 

On  November  25,  1758,  two  days  after  Fort  Du- 
Quesne  had  been  burned,  Bouquet  wrote  to  Chief 
Justice  Allen  at  Philadelphia,  that  he  needed  "A 
Number  of  Cows  and  Bulls,  Mares  and  Stallions, 
Garden  seeds,  etc.  every  moment  is  precious  and  the 
Land  so  rich,  and  the  pastures  so  abundant  that  every- 
thing would  thrive  and  the  Garrison  would  soon  be 
able  to  support  itself."  305  Fort  Pitt  soon  became  a 
bustling  frontier  community.  Sawmills,  tan-yards, 
lime-kilns,  brick-kilns,  coal-mines,  and  trading-houses 
were  in  operation.  Land  was  cleared  and  orchards, 
meadows,  and  fields  were  fenced  in.  Turnips  and 
other  vegetables,  hay,  corn,  and  the  cereal  spelt  were 
grown.     Great  profits  were  realized  by  raising  corn 

304  Bouquet  to  Amherst,  April  1,  1762,  in  Canadian  Arch.  Rep.,  l88g, 
77;   Bouquet  Coll.,  a8,  passim. 

305  Official  Corresp.,  ix,  53,  Penn  mss. 


214       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

and  hay  and  by  feeding  cattle  for  the  use  of  the  garrison 
and  Indian  traders.  Among  those  most  interested 
were  William  Plumsted  and  David  Franks,  British 
army  contractors  for  Pennsylvania  and  the  West.306 

A  census  taken  in  1760  showed  that  the  population 
of  Pittsburg  consisted  of  88  men,  chiefly  Indian  traders, 
29  women,  and  32  children,  and  that  it  had  146  houses 
and  36  huts.  The  next  year  the  population  had  almost 
doubled.  The  taverns  were  frequented  by  traders, 
trappers,  mule  drivers,  and  pioneer  farmers.  Nearly 
all  were  hard  drinking  men  and  many  were  fugitives 
from  eastern  justice  or  escaped  debtors.  The  natives 
frequented  Pittsburg  and  drunken  Indians  staggering 
and  yelling  through  the  village  were  a  common  sight. 
Most  of  the  Indian  traders  had  a  squaw  and  some  of 
them  a  white  woman  as  a  temporary  wife.  This  com- 
munity was  without  any  minister  till  after  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  garrison  was  frequently  without  a  chap- 
lain. Some  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  were  of  a 
high  character.307 

The  leading  citizen  in  this  community  from  1758  to 
1775  was  Croghan,  usually  referred  to  as  "the  Colonel". 
Like  others,  he  acquired  lots  and  houses  in  Pittsburg 
and  also  lands  nearby;  but  he  based  his  land  claims 
upon  a  private  Indian  purchase  made  in  1749.  The 
military  authorities  were  embarrassed,  but  acquiesced. 
One  large  tract  was  located  twenty-five  miles  from 
Pittsburg  in  the  Youghiogheny  valley.  To  develop  it 
he  entered  into  a  partnership  with  Colonel  Clapham; 
settlers   were    brought    in    and    improvements    made. 

306  Croghan  to  David  Franks,  Dec.  25,  1770,  MS.  in  Newberry  Library, 
Chicago;  Max  Kohler,  "The  Franks  Family  as  British  Army  Contractors", 
in  Am.  Jewish  Hist.  Soc.  Pub.,  XI,  18 iff. 

307 Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  11,  303  and  vi,  344;  Jones:  Diary,  n,  20, 
21;  McClure:     Diary,  45,  46,  53,  101. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     21 5 

Croghan  sold  a  half  interest  in  his  improvements  and 
live  stock  to  Plumsted  and  Franks  for  £2,500.  During 
Pontiac's  uprising  Clapham  was  murdered  and  Cro- 
ghan lost  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  and  buildings  valued  at 
£2,5oo.30S 

Croghan's  other  tract  was  located  just  northeast  of 
Fort  Pitt.  In  earlier  years  he  had  his  trading  post  on 
Pine  Creek  just  across  the  Allegheny  River  from  his 
new  location.  It  was  an  excellent  tract  of  rich  bottom 
land  extending  northward  along  the  river  for  several 
miles  and  eastward  to  a  ridge  of  hills  that  lay  from  a 
quarter  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  river.  Here 
he  erected  a  house  and  other  buildings,  all  of  which 
were  burned  by  the  Indians  in  1763,  causing  a  loss  of 
£2,000  to  Croghan.  These  were  soon  rebuilt;  the  new 
residence  was  named  "Croghan  Hall".  An  index  to  the 
manner  of  living  at  this  place  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
servants  were  kept,  that  a  number  of  families  were 
brought  in  to  live  on  the  plantation,  and  that  its  plate 
was  of  sufficient  value  to  be  used  as  security  for  a 
goodly  sized  loan.  Distinguished  visitors,  both  white 
and  red,  frequented  this  landmark.  Missionaries  from 
the  east  brought  letters  of  introduction  and  were  re- 
ceived kindly  and  assisted.  Washington,  on  his  tour 
to  the  Ohio  in  1770,  dined  at  but  two  places  while  at 
Pittsburg,  viz.,  Fort  Pitt  and  Croghan  Hall.  Captain 
Edmonstone,  while  commander  at  Fort  Pitt  in  1771, 
stated  that  Croghan  had  more  property  around  Fort 
Pitt  to  lose  by  an  Indian  war  than  any  other  private 
subject  of  the  King  in  that  country. 


309 


308  Croghan  to  Peters  and  Clark,  June  15,  1763,  in  Prov.  Pap.,  xxxm,  89. 

309  Edmonstone  to  Gage,  Mar.  9,  1771,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xx,  129;  Darl- 
ington: Fort  Pitt  and  Letters  from  the  Frontier,  108,  130;  Day:  Calendar 
of  Sir  William  Johnson  Manuscripts,  146;  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  ii,  35;  Cro- 
ghan to  Thomas  Wharton,  Dec.  9,  1773,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv, 


2l6       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Not  all  who  desired  to  migrate  westward  had  influ- 
ence sufficient  to  secure  a  military  permit,  nor  could 
all  have  been  accommodated  along  the  roads  or  around 
the  forts ;  moreover,  not  all  frontiersmen  were  disposed 
to  ask  permission  to  settle  in  the  Indian  country.  As 
a  result,  after  peace  had  been  insured  in  1765,  fresh 
clearings  and  crude  cabins  began  to  appear  here  and 
there  in  fertile  spots  in  the  Indian  country  and  desir- 
able lands  were  surveyed  and  their  boundaries  blazed 
on  trees.  The  desire  to  preempt  the  best  lands  in  anti- 
cipation of  their  early  opening  to  settlement  was  a 
strong  motive  for  making  such  improvements.  The 
settlements  which  were  to  give  the  most  trouble  were 
those  in  the  Monongahela  valley  along  Cheat  River 
and  Redstone  Creek.  Here  the  boundary  dispute  be- 
tween Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  made  it  easier  for  the 
squatters  to  settle.  Probably  2,000  whites  settled  here 
between  1765  and  1768.310 

Such  were  the  conditions  with  which  Croghan  had 
to  deal  during  his  last  years  as  Deputy  Superintendent. 
The  Indians  had  just  been  quieted  when  the  irrepres- 
sible conflict  threatened  to  break  out  again.  There 
were  various  causes  for  the  fresh  discontent  of  the 
Indians.  The  chief  cause  was  the  encroachment  upon 
their  lands  with  daily  threats  of  more  invasions  of  their 
property  for  which  they  could  obtain  no  justice. 
Rumors  of  proposed  colonies  in  the  heart  of  their  coun- 
try added  to  their  discontent.  Johnson  wrote  Shelburne 
on  April  1,  1767,  that  "The  affairs  of  Lands  are  more 
immediately  interesting  and  alarming  to  the  Indians 
than  anything  else,  yet  the  avidity  manifested  by  most 
people  here  in  pursuit  of  them  encreases  every  day  in 

436;   Bouquet  Coll.,   A17:   237;    Thwaites    and   Kellogg:    Frontier  Defense 
on  the  Upper  Ohio,  200,  250. 

310  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  w,  205 ;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  IX,  509. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     217 

so  much  that  the  American  Govern13  I  believe  find  it 
impracticable  to  prevent  them."  311 

Other  causes  increased  the  discontent.  Distant 
tribes  found  the  English  trade  inadequate  and  others 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  way  in  which  it  was  carried 
on.  The  English  traders  and  soldiers  did  not  manifest 
the  same  tolerant  and  sympathetic  attitude  and  interest 
that  the  French  had  manifested.  Bands  of  young 
braves  on  the  war  path  to  attack  the  Cherokees  stole 
horses  on  their  way  through  the  back  country  and  were 
attacked  by  the  whites.  Instances  of  murders  on  both 
sides  ocurred.  One  incident  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  Indians  and  led  to  much  correspondence 
among  English  officials.  Stump,  a  Pennsylvania  fron- 
tiersman, and  his  servant  were  visited  by  ten  Indians  - 
men,  women,  and  children.  These  Indians  were  made 
drunk,  killed  with  an  ax,  scalped,  and  their  bodies 
burned.  Governor  Penn  offered  a  reward  of  £200  for 
the  arrest  of  the  murderers,  but  when  they  were  placed 
in  jail  a  mob  of  eighty  frontiersmen  rescued  them. 
Stump  was  retaken  and  tried,  but  the  jury  refused  to 
convict  him.  The  most  prominent  Indian  aggression 
was  the  attack  on  two  batteaux  on  the  Ohio  River 
belonging  to  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  causing 
a  loss  of  fourteen  men  and  goods  valued  at  £3,000. 
Hunting  parties  were  also  attacked.312 

Croghan  first  called  attention  to  the  situation  in  a 
letter  to  Gage  written  on  May  26,  1766,  at  Pittsburg 
while  on  his  way  to  the  Illinois  country.  In  it  he  stated 
that  unless  the  causes  be  removed  "the  Consequences 
may  be  dreadful,  and  We  involved  in  all  the  Calamitys 

311  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  914. 

312  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  420ft. ;  Baynton  and  Wharton  to  Macleane,  Oct. 
9,  1767,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxvi,  T46 ;  Croghan  to  Gage, 
June  17,  1766,  ms.  in  Newberry  Library. 


21 8       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

of  another  general  War".313  Gage  at  once  asked  Gov- 
ernor Penn  to  remove  all  Pennsylvanians  who  had  ille- 
gally settled  west  of  the  mountains.  When  he  re- 
quested funds  for  this  purpose  from  the  assembly,  Penn 
was  asked  first  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  Governor 
Fauquier  of  Virginia.  Both  governors  then  issued 
proclamations  warning  the  settlers  to  leave,  but  little 
regard  was  paid  to  them.  A  letter  now  came  to  Penn 
from  Lord  Shelburne  urging  him  to  energetic  action 
and  to  cooperate  with  Gage.  "It  is  a  matter  truly 
alarming  and  requires  the  utmost  attention  and  con- 
sideration of  the  Legislatures  of  these  Middle  Colo- 
nies", wrote  Penn  to  Gage.  It  was  difficult  to  get  the 
colonial  assemblies  to  enforce  the  imperial  proclama- 
tion of  1763  and  Penn  wrote  Shelburne  that  it  would 
be  wisest  for  the  military  power  to  take  charge  of  the 
matter  since  the  civil  power  could  not  compel  obedi- 
ence. Soldiers  were  sent  upon  two  different  occasions 
from  Fort  Pitt  to  oust  the  squatters,  but  no  sooner  had 
they  returned  to  their  fort  than  the  squatters  returned 
in  greater  numbers  than  before.  Finally,  on  Febru- 
ary 3,  1768,  the  assembly  of  Pennsylvania  passed  a  law 
to  be  in  force  for  one  year,  whereby  all  illegal  settlers 
on  Indian  lands  were  required  to  remove  within  thirty 
days  after  being  notified  under  penalty  of  death  with- 
out benefit  of  clergy;  persons  making  surveys  or  mark- 
ing trees  with  a  view  to  settlement  were  to  be  fined  £50 
and  imprisoned  for  six  months.314  Official  commis- 
sioners were  now  sent  to  the  settlers  on  Cheat  River, 
Redstone  Creek,  and  at  three  places  on  the  Youghio- 

313  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  323.  The  pages  following  give  most  of  the  docu- 
ments for  the  succeeding  narrative. 

314  Stat,  at  Large  of  Pa.,  vn,  152.  A  similar  act  was  passed  when  this 
act  expired  to  help  make  the  new  Indian  boundary  of  1768  effective.- 
Idem,  260. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     219 

gheny  to  read  this  law  and  the  governor's  proclamation 
to  them  and  to  explain  the  situation.  When  they  could 
not  assure  the  settlers  a  first  option  on  their  improve- 
ments as  soon  as  the  Indian  title  should  be  extinguished 
the  settlers  refused  to  leave. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  Indian  country,  mysterious  move- 
ments were  going  on  which  baffled  Indian  officials. 
Belts  were  being  passed  secretly  from  village  to  village 
and  a  great  council  of  twelve  nations  was  to  be  held  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  River.  In  the  autumn  of  1767, 
Johnson  quickly  went  to  meet  the  Six  Nations  and  he 
sent  Croghan  to  investigate  and  to  meet  with  the  In- 
dians at  Fort  Pitt,  on  the  Scioto,  and  at  Detroit.  The 
Scioto  meeting  was  postponed  till  March,  but  Croghan 
learned  at  Detroit  that  its  purposes  were  to  make  peace 
among  the  tribes,  to  consider  grievances  against  the 
English,  and  to  organize  a  confederacy  of  northern 
and  western  tribes.315  Gage  prepared  to  put  Fort  Pitt 
and  Niagara  on  a  war  footing  by  strengthening  the  forts 
and  storing  up  provisions.  Shortly  after  Croghan  had 
departed  again  for  the  east,  anxious  chiefs  kept  com- 
ing to  Pittsburg  from  all  parts  of  the  West  to  ask  Mc- 
Kee  whether  he  had  heard  from  Johnson  or  the  Gen- 
eral and  if  Croghan  was  coming  back.  McKee  tried 
to  quiet  them  for  the  time  being.  Croghan  reported 
to  Johnson  that  in  his  opinion  nothing  would  now  pre- 
vent a  war  but  an  Indian  land  purchase.  He  also  pre- 
sented the  situation  in  person  to  the  frugal  assembly  of 
Pennsylvania.  It  acted  promptly  and  in  February, 
1768,  appropriated  the  large  sum  of  £3,000  for  pacify- 
ing the  Indians;  £500  was  to  be  used  to  apprehend 
Stump  and  his  servant;  £1,300  was  sent  to  Johnson  as 

315  Croghan  to  Franklin,  Oct.  2,  1767,  in  Franklin  mss.,  II,  63;  idem, 
lviii,  82;  Votes  of  the  Assembly,  vi,  9-1 1. 


220       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

a  condolence  present  for  the  Six  Nations  who  had  lost 
some  members  through  murders  in  Pennsylvania; 
£1,200  were  to  be  used  for  presents  to  moderate  the 
resentment  of  the  Ohio  Indians.316 

On  February  29,  1768,  Johnson  wrote  Croghan  who 
was  then  in  Philadelphia,  asking  him  to  take  imme- 
diate charge  of  a  mission  to  the  Ohio  Indians  and  to 
send  at  once  invitations  to  the  Ohio  tribes  to  meet  him 
at  Fort  Pitt.  The  situation  was  felt  to  be  so  serious 
that  Croghan  left  for  Fort  Pitt  on  the  same  day  that  he 
received  his  instructions.  When  he  reached  Lancaster 
his  friends  in  Cumberland  County  informed  him  that 
the  frontiersmen  were  again  in  the  greatest  commotion 
and  that  the  "Black  Boys"  had  resolved  that  no  council 
should  be  held.  They  threatened  to  seize  all  presents 
sent  out  and  to  take  Croghan's  life  if  he  attempted  to 
hold  a  conference.  He  now  awaited  the  coming  of  an 
escort  of  thirty-five  soldiers  from  Philadelphia  to  con- 
voy his  goods.  When  an  express  met  the  convoy  and 
brought  the  news  that  the  Indians  were  leaving  Fort 
Pitt  and  holding  conferences  in  the  woods,  Croghan 
left  his  escort  and  hurried  to  Fort  Pitt.317 

On  April  26,  he  was  able  to  open  the  conference.318 
There  were  present  Colonel  Reed  with  twelve  officers, 
McKee,  the  local  Indian  commissary,  John  Allen  and 
Joseph  Shippen,  the  two  Pennsylvania  commissioners, 
and  over  1,100  Indians,  chiefly  Delawares,  Shawnee, 

S16lll.  Hist.  Coll.,  xii,  88,  170,  209,  270;  Franklin:  Writings,  (ed. 
Smyth),  v,  499. 

317  Johnson  to  Croghan,  Feb.  29,  1768,  MS.  in  Newberry  Library;  Cro- 
ghan to  Johnson,  Mar.  18,  1768,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xvi,  53;  idem,  56. 

318  The  minutes  of  this  conference  are  found  in  manuscript  form  in  the 
Library  of  Congress  and  in  almost  the  same  form  in  the  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  IX, 
5i4ff. ;  they  were  printed  in  Philadelphia  in  1769  by  William  Goddard. 
See  also  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xn,  323,  and  Croghan  to  Thomas  Wharton,  April 
17  and  May  7,  1768,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv,  430. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     221 

Six  Nations,  Wyandots,  Munsies,  and  Mohicans.  The 
Indians  were  much  discontented  and  in  a  sullen  temper 
and  asked  that  the  English  forts  be  demolished  and 
that  navigation  on  the  Ohio  cease.  By  private  meet- 
ings with  the  chiefs,  however,  Croghan  was  able  to 
accomplish  his  ends.  The  Indians  discussed  all  their 
grievances  with  their  friend  and  by  the  judicious  use 
of  presents  valued  at  £1,150  Croghan  was  able  to  settle 
all  questions  except  that  of  the  removal  of  settlers ;  its 
settlement  was  postponed  until  the  proposed  Indian 
purchase  should  be  made.  Negotiations  concerning 
it  could  now  proceed.  Gage  was  gratified  and  felt 
that  an  Indian  war  had  been  avoided. 

The  only  real  relief  to  the  entire  situation  was  to  be 
had  through  the  shifting  of  the  Indian  boundary  line 
westward  from  the  line  established  in  1758  and  1763. 
Expansion  had  become  a  vital  necessity  for  Pennsyl- 
vania with  her  large  German  and  Scotch-Irish  immi- 
gration and  it  also  vitally  interested  the  Virginia 
planters.  It  was  difficult  to  persuade  the  British  gov- 
ernment to  act  because  of  the  opposition  of  merchants 
interested  in  the  Indian  trade,  of  politicians  still  ad- 
hering to  mercantilist  theories,  and  of  treasury  officials 
zealous  for  economy.  Croghan  and  Johnson,  after  a 
conference  in  the  fall  of  1767,  used  all  their  influence 
to  secure  action.  Both  wrote  letters  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  Croghan  persuaded  Governor  Penn,  Gov- 
ernor Franklin,  Peters,  Galloway,  and  Wharton  to 
write  to  their  friends  in  England.  The  Pennsylvania 
assembly  instructed  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Jackson, 
its  agents  in  London,  to  urge  action.  Finally,  early 
in  1768,  instructions  were  sent  to  Johnson  to  make  the 
desired  purchase.319 

319  ///.  Hist.   Coll.,   xii,    180;    Franklin:     Writings    (ed.    Smyth),   v,    65. 


222       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Croghan  and  Johnson  had  for  several  years  been  pre- 
paring the  Indians  for  the  purchase,  but  to  assemble  at 
Fort  Stanwix  representatives  of  all  the  Iroquois  tribes 
took  all  summer.  The  conference  which  followed 
was  one  of  the  most  important  Indian  conferences  ever 
held  in  North  America.  Between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand Indians  came.  Governors  Penn  and  Franklin 
with  commissioners  representing  their  colonies,  and 
commissioners  representing  Virginia  were  present. 
Johnson  was  assisted  by  interpreters  and  by  his  three 
deputies,  Croghan,  Claus,  and  Guy  Johnson.  William 
Trent  and  Samuel  Wharton  came  to  try  to  secure  a 
private  grant  for  the  traders  who  had  lost  heavily  in 
1763.  Croghan  also  intended  to  secure  a  grant  around 
Fort  Pitt  for  himself.  Twenty  boats  heavily  laden 
with  presents  came  up  the  Mohawk.  These  were  judi- 
ciously displayed;  some  were  privately  presented  to 
leading  chiefs  at  critical  times  during  conferences. 
Days  and  nights  for  weeks  were  spent  in  difficult  nego- 
tiations. Most  of  the  real  work  was  done  in  private 
conferences  with  the  leading  chiefs.  Croghan  was 
busy  looking  after  the  interests  of  the  empire,  the 
Penns,  the  traders,  and  himself.  While  in  England  he 
had  had  conferences  with  the  Penns  in  regard  to  the 
boundary  line  and  he  had  an  understanding  that  in 
return  for  his  influence  to  secure  a  desirable  line, 
Thomas  Penn  would  use  his  good  offices  in  London  to 
further  Croghan's  petitions  for  land  grants. 

In  return  for  presents  valued  at  £10,000,  the  Six 
Nations  ceded  their  claims  to  the  vast  tract  of  land 
lying  between  the  Appalachian  divide  and  the  Ohio 

Most  of  the  persons  named  had  hopes  of  benefiting  through  securing  private 
grants  of  lands  at  the  sale.  This  phase  will  De  discussed  in  the  next 
chapter.  The  best  collection  of  documents  bearing  on  the  treaty  of  Fort 
Stanwix  is  found  in  the  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vm. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     223 

River;  it  included  a  small  strip  in  central  New  York, 
southwestern  Pennsylvania,  modern  West  Virginia,  and 
northern  Kentucky  as  far  as  the  Tennessee  River.  The 
boundary  line  was  ratified  by  the  home  government  the 
next  year.  An  examination  of  the  map  will  show  that 
rivers  formed  most  of  the  boundary  line.  The  part 
that  was  not  thus  indicated  had  to  be  surveyed  and 
marked  by  blazing  the  trees  on  both  sides  in  a  zone 
fifty  feet  wide.  Croghan,  in  the  spring  of  1769,  super- 
vized  a  party  of  surveyors  and  blazers  engaged  in  this 
work.320 

The  barriers  were  now  removed  and  the  trickling 
stream  of  lonely  pioneers  which  had  already  been  cross- 
ing the  mountains  became  an  irresistible  tide  of  west- 
ward moving  settlers.  One  of  the  phenomenal  west- 
ward movements  of  American  history  followed.  Most 
of  the  settlers  were  real  homeseekers,  but  the  agents 
and  surveyors  of  speculators  like  Washington  were  also 
present  and  a  few  pioneers  took  up  claims  only  to  sell 
them  at  a  profit.  The  Penns  opened  their  portion  to 
settlement  on  April  3,  1769,  and  on  the  first  day  they 
received  2,790  applications,  each  for  300  acres;  in  four 
months  1,000,000  acres,  including  all  the  good  lands 
were  sold.321  Croghan  wrote  in  1770:  "What  num- 
ber of  families  has  settled,  since  the  congress,  to  the 
westward  of  the  high  ridge,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say 
positively;  but  last  year,  I  am  sure,  there  were  between 
four  and  five  thousand,  and  all  this  spring  and  summer 
the  roads  have  been  lined  with  wagons  moving  to  the 

320  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Oct.,  1768,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xvi,  191;  Samuel 
Wharton  to  Franklin,  Dec.  2,  1768,  in  Franklin  mss.,  xlix,  77 ;  Thomas 
Penn  to  Croghan,  Dec.  4,  1768,  in  Penn  Letter  Bk.,  ix,  309 ;  Croghan  to 
Gage,  Jan.  1,  1770,  in  C.  O.,  5:  88;  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv,  430. 

321  New  Purchase  (1768)  Applications,  Department  of  Internal  Affairs, 
Harrisburg. 


224       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Ohio." 322  In  Virginia  over  6,000,000  acres,  lying 
chiefly  in  what  is  now  West  Virginia,  were  granted  or 
petitioned  for.  Wade  wrote  Johnson  on  April  20, 
1774,  that  families  with  from  ten  to  fifty  negro  slaves 
crossed  the  mountains  and  that  it  was  not  uncommon 
to  meet  twenty  to  thirty  wagons  a  day  in  the  fall  of 
1773  all  going  to  the  Ohio  country.  A  traveler  re- 
ported in  1773  that  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
below  Pittsburg  the  country  was  thickly  settled,  that 
a  large  acreage  was  in  grain,  and  that  gristmills  were 
being  erected.  New  counties  were  being  organized: 
in  Pennsylvania,  Bedford  County  was  organized  in 
1 77 1,  Northumberland  in  1772,  and  Westmoreland  in 
1773;  in  Virginia,  Botetourt  County  was  organized 
in  1770,  Fincastle  in  1772,  and  the  District  of  West 
Augusta  in  1774.  The  political  status  of  the  territory 
which  was  being  settled  was  to  become  one  of  the 
great  problems  of  the  next  twenty  years.323 

Soon,  however,  the  old  causes  of  conflict  between  the 
Indians  and  the  English  again  came  to  the  surface,  and 
in  1769,  1770,  and  1771,  English  officials  were  appre- 
hensive of  a  new  Indian  war.  The  Delawares  and 
Shawnee  were  incensed  because  their  claims  had  been 
entirely  disregarded  at  Fort  Stanwix.  We  read  of  150 
horses  stolen  at  Fort  Pitt,  of  200  cattle  shot,  of  murders 
committed  on  both  sides,  of  the  renewal  of  the  plan  for 
a  great  Indian  conference  on  the  Scioto,  of  the  "Black 
Boys"  seizing  25  horses  loaded  with  Indian  goods 
on  the  way  to  Fort  Pitt,  and  of  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Pitt  keeping  their  drawbridge  always  up  and  placing 

322  Alvord:  Mississippi  Valley  in  British  Politics,  u,  113.  This  masterly 
work  is  indispensable  to  the  student  for  the  period  1763  to  1775.  Acts  of 
the  Privy  Council,  V,  205. 

323  George  Washington  to  Charles  Washington,  Jan.  31,  1770,  in  Wash- 
ington mss.,  xi,  1453a;  Johnson  mss.,  xxi,  213;  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog., 
xxx,  320. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     225 

a  double  sentry  at  the  gate.  Croghan,  however,  re- 
mained in  the  east  much  of  the  time  and  had  McKee 
manage  affairs  at  Fort  Pitt.  He,  himself,  took  part  in 
only  a  few  small  conferences  at  Fort  Pitt.  By  1773, 
Gage  and  Governor  Penn  were  again  both  issuing 
proclamations  warning  trespassers  off  of  lands  across 
the  new  boundary  line.  Until  after  the  Revolution, 
however,  the  area  east  and  south  of  Ohio  proved  ade- 
quate to  meet  the  needs  of  actual  settlers,  though  not 
of  scheming  land  speculators  who  wanted  to  organize 
new  colonies  in  the  interior.32* 

The  drawing  of  a  new  boundary  line  was  the  first  of 
four  important  measures  affecting  the  West  which  were 
decided  in  the  year  1768  and  which  were  carried  out 
by  the  new  Pittite-Bedford  ministry.  The  second 
measure  provided  for  the  abandonment  of  most  of  the 
western  forts  and  the  concentration  of  the  troops  along 
the  seacoast;  the  third  guaranteed  the  permanency  of 
the  Indian  department,  but  took  away  from  it  the  over- 
sight of  Indian  trade;  the  fourth  rejected  all  plans  for 
the  establishment  of  new  colonies  in  the  far  West,  along 
the  Great  Lakes,  or  the  Mississippi.  These  four  mea- 
sures were  all  interrelated  and  constituted  the  most 
important  imperial  decisions  with  regard  to  the  West 
that  were  made  between  1764  and  1774.  The  policy 
announced  in  1768  was  neither  reactionary  nor  radical, 
nor  did  it  incorporate  all  of  the  measures  advocated  by 
any  one  cabinet  member;  it  was  a  compromise  influ- 
enced largely  by  the  failure  of  imperial  plans  to  tax 
the  colonies,  by  the  desire  of  the  merchants  interested 
in  the  Indian  trade  to  be  freed  from  restrictive  regula- 
tions, and  by  the  ominous  desire  to  have  the   army 

324  Pa.  Gazette,  Aug.  17,  1769;  Pa.  Arch.,  iv,  411,  433;  Johnson  mss., 
viii,  187;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  viii,  passim;  Croghan  to  Gage,  Jan.  1,  1770,  in 
C.  O.,  5:  88;  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  x,  95  ;  American  State  Pap.,  Public  Lands,  11,  209. 


226       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

nearer  the  seacoast  ready  for  action.     That  it  marked 
a  decline  in  the  Indian  department  is  self-evident.325 

This  department  had  always  relied  upon  the  assist- 
ance of  the  commanders  of  the  forts  and  when  these 
were  abandoned,  the  local  Indian  officials  often  found 
their  positions  untenable.  In  1768,  the  cabinet  author- 
ized Gage  to  abandon  all  interior  forts  except  Niagara, 
Detroit,  Michillimackinac,  Pitt,  Chartres,  and  either 
Crown  Point  or  Ticonderoga.  In  1771,  he  was  ordered 
to  abandon  Fort  Pitt  and  Fort  de  Chartres,  demolish 
their  works  and  carry  their  cannon  to  Philadelphia. 
Fort  Pitt,  which  had  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  £60,000, 
was  now  destroyed  and  all  the  materials  in  the  buildings 
and  walls  were  sold  for  £50.  The  settlers  viewed  this 
with  surprise  and  grief.  When  one  of  the  officers  was 
asked  the  reason  for  destroying  a  fort  so  necessary  for 
the  safety  of  the  frontiers,  he  replied :  "The  Americans 
will  not  submit  to  the  british  Parliament,  and  they  may 
now  defend  themselves".  The  Indians  were  glad. 
Croghan  wrote  to  Johnson  that  he  had  talked  to  many 
and  that  they  had  always  had  the  suspicion  that  the 
troops  were  being  kept  to  be  used  some  day  against 
them.  The  removal  of  the  troops  quieted  them.  Gage 
had  offered  Croghan  the  house  of  the  commanding 
officer  with  other  property,  but  the  house  was  pulled 
down.     Croghan   did  take  over   an   old   barrack,   an 

325  Shelburne's  famous  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade  dated  October  5, 
1767,  and  the  Representation  to  the  King  dated  March  7,  1768,  replying 
to  it,  are  found  in  the  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vu,  981  ff.  and  vm,  19&.,  respectively. 
A  detailed  discussion  is  given  in  Alvord:  Mississippi  Valley  in  British 
Politics.  During  the  Stamp  Act  troubles  in  1765,  Gage  had  written  Gover- 
nor Sharpe  of  Maryland  that  Fort  Pitt  was  the  nearest  place  from  which 
troops  could  be  sent  to  his  assistance  and  that  its  communications  were 
extremely  weak.  The  troops  were  so  scattered  over  a  vast  continent  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  meet  a  sudden  emergency.  -  Gage  to  Conway,  Sept. 
23,  1765,  in  America  to  1765,  535,  Bancroft  Coll. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     227 

orchard,  garden,  and  fields  and  tried  to  hold  them  until 
it  was  proven  that  they  lay  within  Pennsylvania.326 

The  desire  to  abandon  most  of  the  forts  was  an  addi- 
tional reason  for  abandoning  the  attempt  to  regulate 
the  Indian  trade  through  imperial  officials.  The  cab- 
inet decided  in  1768  to  maintain  the  Indian  department 
for  the  purpose  of  controllng  political  relations  with 
the  Indians  and  making  purchases  of  their  lands;  but 
the  department  was  to  be  subordinate  to  the  military 
department  and  its  control  over  the  regulation  of  In- 
dian trade  as  planned  in  1764  was  to  be  taken  away  and 
left  to  the  colonies.  The  merchants  of  England  were 
almost  unanimously  against  the  plan  of  1764.  Local 
needs,  they  argued,  could  be  best  judged  by  each  indi- 
vidual colony.  Moreover,  Gage  reported  that  it  was 
impossible  to  enforce  imperial  regulations  because 
most  of  the  Indian  traders  were  nearly  "as  wild  as  the 
Country  they  go  in,  or  the  People  they  deal  with  and 
by  far  more  vicious  and  wicked".  Should  Indian  wars 
arise,  under  the  new  system  the  colonies  would  bear  the 
major  expenses. 

Johnson  was  ordered  to  discharge  all  commissaries 
and  to  reduce  drastically  the  number  of  other  officials. 
Gage  wrote  him  on  March  19,  1769:  "Mr.  Croghan 
will  order  the  Commisarys  away  from  the  Posts  in  his 
District  immediately,  The  Smiths  and  more  particu- 
larly the  Interpreters  must  remain.  .  ." 327  It  was 
felt  unwise  to  act  until  the  colonies  had  had  time  to 
appoint  the  successors  to  these  officials,  hence  their 
discharge  was  delayed  for  several  months.  Gage 
asked  the  province  of  Quebec  to  appoint  and  provide 

326  Calendar  of  Va.  State  Papers,  I,  278 ;  McClure :  Diary,  101 ;  Cro- 
ghan to  Johnson,  Dec.  24,  1772,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxv,  118;  Croghan  to 
Haldimand,  Oct.  4,  1773,  in  Haldimand  Coll.,  series  B,  70:  269;  idem,  104. 

327  Gage  to  Johnson,  Mar.   13,   1769,  in  Dreer  Coll. 


228       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

salaries  for  the  local  officials  at  Michillimackinac,  New 
York  to  be  responsible  for  those  at  Niagara  and 
Detroit,  and  Pennsylvania  for  those  at  Pittsburg  and 
Kaskaskia.  The  governors  of  the  colonies  were  in- 
structed to  have  their  assemblies  pass  proper  laws  for 
regulating  the  trade  and  for  preventing  encroachments 
on  the  Indian's  land. 

Johnson  summarized  the  situation  well  when  he 
wrote  that  "none  of  those  conversant  in  these  matters 
expect  they  will  do  anything  material.  .  .  ."  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia  were  the  colonies 
most  interested.  Colonial  assemblies  in  1769  and  1770 
were  giving  little  heed  to  requests  from  London  or  to 
recommendations  made  by  royal  governors.  Delays 
ensued.  The  New  York  assembly  provided  for  a 
small  appropriation  and  for  commissioners  to  consult 
with  representatives  from  the  other  colonies.  Virginia 
also  provided  for  such  commissioners.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania the  assembly  informed  Governor  Penn  that  they 
already  had  laws  governing  the  two  questions  involved 
and  that  they  could  do  no  more  alone;  that  it  was  vain 
to  think  of  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  Pennsylvania 
to  cover  posts  outside  its  limits  or  over  traders  from 
other  colonies  in  such  regions.  After  repeated  urgings, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1770,  provided  for  commissioners  to 
meet  with  commissioners  from  Quebec,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Virginia  for 
the  purpose  of  formulating  a  general  plan  for  the  reg- 
ulation of  the  Indian  trade  and  stated  that  until  this 
was  done  it  could  do  nothing  further.  In  view  of  the 
revolutionary  movements  on  foot,  the  imperial  govern- 
ment thought  it  wise  to  prevent  such  a  colonial  con- 
ference.328 


328  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  ix,  555,  582,  592,  646,  656,  708,  709;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs., 
VIII,  151,  185,  222,  225,  254;  Stat,  at  Large  of  Pa.,  vn,  339. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     229 

Matters  now  drifted  along  and  the  Indian  trade  was 
thrown  into  chaos  and  confusion.  There  was  no  longer 
any  check  on  rapacious  traders.  Non-importation 
agreements  were  making  goods  for  the  Indian  trade 
so  scarce  that  when  Johnson  and  Croghan  wanted 
goods  valued  at  £3,000  there  were  not  £10  worth  to 
be  had  in  Philadelphia.  Conferences  without  pres- 
ents could  scarcely  be  held.  When  the  Indians  saw 
prices  rise  and  found  it  more  and  more  difficult  to 
get  any  goods  at  all,  their  resentment  became  great.329 
It  became  evident  that  with  the  possession  of  the  vast 
territory  west  of  the  mountains,  imperial  control  of 
the  Indian  trade  based  on  an  act  of  Parliament  was  the 
only  solution.  Though  Gage,  as  a  good  politician, 
wrote  home,  "Let  the  savages  enjoy  their  desarts  in 
quiet,"  yet  privately,  he  told  Croghan  that  things 
would  never  be  rightly  managed  until  imperial  control 
was  restored.330  He  did  not  foresee  that  central  man- 
agement was  to  be  secured  through  national  action 
under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and  the  Constitu- 
tion of  a  new  nation. 

The  decline  of  the  Indian  department  enabled  the 
imperial  government  to  reduce  Indian  expenditures 
and  with  one  exception  this  was  drastically  enforced. 
Normal  annual  expenditures  in  the  Northern  District 
were  to  be  limited  to  £5,000  and  in  the  Southern  Dis- 
trict to  £4,000.  Extraordinary  expenditures  which 
were  not  provided  for  in  the  budget  had  to  be  recom- 
mended by  the  commander-in-chief  and  sanctioned  by 
the  home  government  before  being  incurred.  Indian 
officials  and  military  commanders  who  violated  these 
rules  were  to  be  personally  responsible  for  expenses 

329  M.  Gratz  to  B.  Gratz,  Aug.  9,  1769,  in  Byars,  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  97. 

330  Gage  to  Hillsborough,  Nov.  10,  1770,  in  C.  O.,  5:  88;  Doc.  Hist,  of 
N.Y.,  iv,  420. 


230       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

they  incurred.  Johnson  had  asked  for  an  increase  in 
salaries  for  his  four  deputies  from  £200  to  £300  and 
also  an  increase  for  himself.  His  own  salary  was  now 
increased  from  £600  to  £1,000.  Stuart's  salary  was 
raised  to  £800  and  he  was  made  an  ex-officio  member  of 
the  councils  of  all  the  colonies  in  his  district.  In 
return,  these  men  were  asked  to  see  that  the  new  sys- 
tem worked  out  successfully.  In  the  Northern  Dis- 
trict scarcely  £3,000  remained  for  presents,  traveling 
expenses  and  all  other  expenditures  after  salaries  were 
paid  to  the  superintendent,  his  deputies,  an  assistant, 
a  surgeon,  a  clerk,  a  storekeeper,  two  smiths,  and  three 
interpreters.331 

Croghan's  salary  and  the  salaries  of  all  other  officials 
were  not  increased.  He  still  found  it  necessary  to 
advance  his  own  money  to  pay  minor  officials  under 
him,  and  then  found  it  difficult  to  secure  reimburse- 
ment. Gage  refused  to  pay  any  of  Croghan's  bills 
except  through  Johnson  and  the  latter  had  to  urge 
Croghan  to  practice  the  strictest  frugality.  Croghan 
called  attention  to  the  expenses  entailed  by  his  position 
and  stated  that  he  could  not  continue  in  his  office  unless 
they  were  allowed.  He  wrote  to  his  son-in-law,  Pre- 
vost,  that  he  and  Gage  "coald  nott  agree  in  our  senti- 
ments, which  was  a  prensaple  Cause  of  my  going  out 
of  the  service".332 

Various  dates  from  1771  to  1776  are  given  for  Cro- 
ghan's  resignation.  The  evidence  discovered  proves 
that  it  was  early  in  1772.333     Various  causes  were  re- 

331  Gage  to  Johnson,  Mar.  13,  1769  in  the  library  of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of 
Pa.;  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xn,  568;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vm,  203,  211;  Bd.  of  Tr. 
Pap.,  Plantations  General,  xxix,  U42 ;  C.  O.,  5:  84  and  86. 

332  Johnson  mssv  xix,  57,  183;  xx,  83 ;  xxi,  41,  68;  Croghan  to  Prevost, 
Jan.  27,  1773,  in  Haldimand  Coll.,  B70:  104. 

333Croghan's  deed  to  John  Kelly,  in  Deed  Bk.,  xl,  163,  Sec.  of  State, 
Albany. 


IRRESISTIBLE  PRESSURE  UPON  INDIAN'S  LAND     23 1 

sponsible  for  his  resignation.  The  decline  of  the  In- 
dian department  no  longer  challenged  his  interests 
and  powers.  There  were  no  difficult  and  important 
duties  in  prospect  and  therefore  Johnson  no  longer 
opposed  Croghan's  wish  to  resign.  Should  occasion 
demand  it,  Croghan  agreed  to  return.  Croghan's  in- 
creasing age  and  ill  health  were  not  compatible  with 
the  strenuous  life  of  an  Indian  agent.  Beginning  with 
the  year  1769,  Croghan  suffered  severely  with  the 
gout  and  rheumatism  and  was  confined  to  his  bed  for 
weeks  at  a  time.  In  the  spring  of  1770  he  planned  to 
go  to  Warm  Springs  in  Virginia  for  relief.  Croghan 
also  yearned  to  retire  from  public  life.334  His  landed 
interests  were  of  absorbing  importance,  especially  in 
1772,  when  the  establishment  of  Vandalia  promised  to 
demand  his  services  as  an  official  in  the  new  colony. 
He  also  felt  that  the  reversion  to  Amherst's  policy  of 
neglect  of  Indian  affairs  and  the  new  encroachments 
upon  the  Indian's  lands  were  only  a  part  of  the  sinister 
policy  of  Lord  Hillsborough  and  other  enemies  of 
Vandalia;  this  he  thought  aimed  at  bringing  on  an 
Indian  war  to  thwart  the  establishment  of  the  new 
colony.  By  resigning,  Croghan  would  be  able  to  com- 
bat this  policy.335 

As  soon  as  it  was  rumored  that  Croghan  had  re- 
signed, place  hunters  applied  for  his  position.  The 
selection  of  his  successor  was  made  upon  merit,  how- 
ever. Johnson  recommended  Alexander  McKee  who 
had  been  Croghan's  chief  assistant  at  Fort  Pitt  for  over 
a  decade  and  who  had  often  taken  charge  of  affairs 
when  Croghan  was  absent.336  Croghan  continued  to 
give  Johnson  and  McKee  the  benefit  of  his  advice  and, 

334  Johnson  mss.,  xvii  to  xx,  passim. 

335  Croghan  to  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  Jan.  4,  1772,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  93; 
Croghan  to  Wharton,  Oct.  15,  1773,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv,  435. 

336  Johnson  to  Gage,  May  20,  1772,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxi,  189. 


232       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

at  critical  times,  of  his  services  also.  Sir  William 
Johnson  served  until  his  death  two  years  later,  on  July 
ii,  1774.  Croghan  was  grief -stricken  when  the  news 
came  to  him.  Sir  William  Johnson  was  succeeded  by 
Guy  Johnson  and  later  by  John  Johnson.  To  these 
men  and  to  McKee  fell  the  odious  duty  while  in  the 
service  of  their  King  to  incite  the  Iroquois  and  western 
Indians  to  raid  the  frontiers  during  the  Revolution. 
Next  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  Croghan  was  the  most 
prominent  English  Indian  agent  of  his  generation. 
His  journals  and  official  correspondence  give  an  epi- 
tome of  the  history  of  Indian  affairs  in  the  Northern 
District.  He  rendered  eminent  services  to  the  colonies 
and  to  the  empire  by  conciliating  the  Indians  and 
securing  their  friendly  support.  Few  white  men  were 
more  welcome  in  Indian  villages  than  he.  He  helped 
to  turn  the  tide  of  French  aggression,  to  secure  the 
occupation  of  the  West  by  the  English,  and  to  maintain 
peaceful  relations  between  the  red  man  and  the  white 
man  in  spite  of  their  clashing  interests  in  trade  and  in 
land.  In  1775,  James  Adair,  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  respectable  traders  with  the  Southern  Indians, 
dedicated  his  famous  History  of  the  American  Indians 
"To  the  Honorable  Colonel  George  Croghan,  George 
Galphin  and  Lachlan  McGilwray,  Esquires."  337  He 
summarized  the  work  of  these  men  thus:  "To  you 
with  the  greatest  propriety  the  following  sheets  are 
addressed.  Your  distinguished  abilities -your  thor- 
ough acquaintance  with  the  North  American  Indians' 
language,  rites,  and  customs -your  long  application 
and  services  in  the  dangerous  sphere  of  an  Indian  life, 
and  your  successful  management  of  the  savage  natives, 
are  well  known  over  all  the  continent  of  America". 

337  Johnson   had  consented   to  have  his  name  in  the  list,   but  his  death 
in  1774  caused  it  to  be  omitted. 


Land  Speculation:  Individual  Purchases, 
1746-1770 

In  1760,  the  interests  of  the  English  colonies  were 
largely  agricultural.  Less  than  four  percent  of  the 
population  lived  in  towns  of  more  than  8,000  inhabi- 
tants. Free  capital  found  the  most  promising  in- 
vestments in  lands  about  to  be  settled.  The  treaty 
of  Paris  in  1763  had  thrown  open  to  the  investor  the 
magnificent  forest-clad  kingdom  that  stretched  from 
the  Appalachians  to  the  Mississippi.  The  beautiful 
Ohio  valley,  the  Lake  Plains,  and  the  Illinois  prairies 
were  rich  with  incalculable  possibilities  to  tempt  him. 
The  psychological  effect  of  a  victory  resulting  in  the 
winning  of  such  an  empire  encouraged  him  to  exploit 
it.  Immigration  and  the  natural  increase  of  popula- 
tion were  counted  on  to  double  and  triple  land  values 
frequently.  The  royal  proclamation  of  1763  and  other 
legal  handicaps  did  not  remove  the  temptation.  Wash- 
ington, a  leading  land  speculator,  wrote:  "I  can  never 
look  upon  that  proclamation  in  any  other  light  (but 
this  I  say  between  ourselves),  than  as  a  temporary  ex- 
pedient to  quiet  the  minds  of  the  Indians.  .  .  Any 
person,  therefore,  who  neglects  the  present  opportu- 
nity of  hunting  out  good  lands,  and  in  some  measure 
marking  and  distinguishing  them  for  his  own,  (in 
order  to  keep  others  from  settling  them),  will  never 
regain  it."  338 

The  leadership  in  this  movement  was  taken  by  Vir- 

338  Washington  to  Crawford,  Sept.  21,  1767,  in  Writings,  11,  220. 


234       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ginia  planters,  who  were  always  land  hungry,  by  Penn- 
sylvania merchants,  who  had  surplus  capital  to  invest, 
and  by  New  Englanders,  who  sought  to  relieve  the 
pressure  of  population  upon  their  available  supply  of 
desirable  land.  New  York  lacked  expansive  power 
until  after  the  Revolution.  The  movement  centered 
in  Philadelphia;  this  city  had  long  been  interested 
in  the  hinterland.  Colonial  leaders,  however,  were 
wise  enough  to  interest  influential  Englishmen  and 
thus  secure  their  political  support  and  the  use  of  the 
capital  of  an  old  country.  Croghan  expressed  the 
intense  interest  of  England  in  her  new  territories  as 
follows :  "one  half  of  England  is  Now  Land  mad  and 
Every  body  there  has  thire  Eys  fixt  on  this 
Cuntry.     .     ." 339 

The  spirit  of  land  speculation  found  expression  in 
individual  land  operations,  in  the  organization  of 
numerous  land  companies,  and  in  the  planning  of  new 
colonies.  Plans  for  colonies  located  around  Detroit, 
Pittsburg,  Boonesborough,  Kaskaskia,  and  Natchez 
were  drawn  up  and  seriously  considered.  Companies 
were  also  organized  to  develop  silver,  gold,  and  copper 
mines  on  Lake  Superior,  and  gold  and  silver  mines  in 
the  Pennsylvania  mountains.340 

Most  of  the  public  men  of  the  east  were  interested 
in  this  movement.  Washington,  Franklin,  Johnson, 
and  Patrick  Henry  all  held  shares  in  such  companies. 
Henry  wrote  in  1774:  "the  west™  world  is  my  Hobby 
horse". 341     Such  connections  were  considered  honor- 

339  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Mar.  3,  1766,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  206. 

340  Croghan  and  Johnson  were  both  offered  shares  in  this  company. 
Forty  miners  were  sent  to  Lake  Superior  with  Alexander  Henry  as  a 
guide. -Henry:  Travels  and  Adventures,  223*?. ;  Johnson  mss.,  xvii,  105  and 
viii,  212;  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  49. 

341  Wharton  to  Thomas  Walpole,  Sept.  23,  1774,  in  Thomas  Wharton's 
Letter  Bk.,   1773-1784. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  235 

able  until  after  the  Revolution  when  scandals  and  fail- 
ures such  as  those  of  Nicholson,  Morris,  and  of  the 
Yazoo  Company  made  them  odious  in  the  public  eye. 
"Patriotic"  historians  long  over  looked  or  concealed 
this  phase  of  American  history  and  gave  their  attention 
to  political  and  military  affairs.  Benjamin  Franklin 
and  his  associates  were  representative  Americans  with 
human  motives  -  one  of  which  is  the  amassing  of 
wealth.  He  did  not  conceal  this,  but  expressed  it  in 
Poor  Richard's  maxims.  When  this  motive  found 
expression  in  land  operations  in  the  West,  it  had  far- 
reaching  social  and  political  results  which  were  of  the 
highest  significance  for  the  future  of  their  country. 

To  carry  out  their  schemes,  these  colonial  leaders 
had  to  secure  the  consent  of  the  English  cabinet.  The 
policy  of  the  cabinet  was  one  of  indecision  and  obstruc- 
tion which  these  leaders  labored  to  overcome.  In  try- 
ing to  accomplish  this  they  handicapped  themselves 
by  dividing  into  two  hostile  groups.  One  group,  led 
by  Virginians,  had  a  vision  of  a  West  composed  of 
innumerable  additional  Virginia  counties  for  it  to 
exploit  and  of  a  Virginia  of  preponderant  size  and 
power.  The  other  group  led  by  Pennsylvanians, 
Franklin  and  Croghan  included,  had  a  vision  of  a  West 
composed  of  a  considerable  number  of  new  colonies, 
or  states,  coordinate  in  every  way  with  those  along  the 
seaboard.  The  fact  that  Pennsylvania  was  prevented 
by  its  charter  from  incorporating  much  of  the  West 
was  largely  responsible  for  their  attitude.  Their 
policy  was  first  expressed  by  Franklin  at  the  Albany 
Congress  in  1754.  In  1756,  he  drew  up  a  well-ma- 
tured plan  for  the  establishment  of  such  colonies.  In 
the  development  of  the  map  of  the  United  States  dur- 
ing the  generation  before  1787,  this  plan  occupies  a 
highly  significant  place. 


236       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Croghan  was  one  of  the  most  influential  leaders  of 
the  Pennsylvania  group.  Few  others  devoted  them- 
selves so  thoroughly  to  western  land  matters.  "I  find 
they  preferrthire  Ease  and  plesher  to  busness  .  .  .", 
he  wrote  in  disgust  when  some  of  his  associates  refused 
to  make  a  journey  to  discuss  land  matters.342  No  other 
leader  of  any  group  had  a  better  first  hand  knowledge 
of  the  most  fertile  and  strategically  located  lands  to- 
wards which  the  frontier  was  rapidly  moving,  nor  did 
any  other  leader  surpass  Croghan  in  his  faith  in  the 
rapid  development  of  the  West.  This  so  inspired  him 
that  he  was  able  to  exert  a  dynamic  influence  upon 
eastern  leaders.  He  won  their  gratitude  by  frequently 
helping  them  to  secure  choice  tracts  of  land  for  private 
investments.  Among  those  whom  he  served  in  this 
manner  were  Generals  Bouquet,  Bradstreet,343  and 
Armstrong,  Rev.  William  Smith,  the  Whartons,  David 
Franks,  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz,  Richard  Hock- 
ley, Richard  and  William  Peters,  and  the  Franklins. 
Croghan's  official  position  brought  him  into  intimate 
contact  with  them.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  interest 
them  in  organizing  companies  to  develop  western 
lands. 

Croghan  was  also  individually  interested  in  western 
lands.  He  secured  legal  title  to  thousands  of  acres 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  he  attempted  to 
secure  sole  title  to  200,000  acres  near  Pittsburg.  It 
was  in  Pennsylvania  that  he  secured  his  first  lands. 
Penn's  excellent  land  system,  unlike  that  of  Virginia, 
favored  the  settler  with  small  means  and  this  encour- 
aged   immigration    and    a    phenomenal    prosperity. 

342  Croghan  to  Trent,  Jan.  18,  1769,  in  Lamberton  Scotch-Irish  mss.,  1,  86. 

343  At  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  Croghan  assisted  Bradstreet  to  secure 
20,000  acres  in  New  York. -Am.  Antiq.  Soc,  Transactions,  xi,  104;  Hanna: 
Wilderness   Trail,  II,  66. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  237 

"What  the  world  has  imputed  to  the  happiness  of  our 
Constitution,  is  with  more  justice  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
happy  management  of  the  Land  offices",  wrote  Lewis 
Evans  in  1753. 344 

Theoretically,  a  settler  would  secure  his  lands  from 
the  Penns  through  their  officials  in  Philadelphia,  they 
having  extinguished  all  Indian  claims.  The  settler 
applied  to  the  secretary  of  the  land  office  for  a  certain 
tract  of  unoccupied  land,  usually  limited  to  300  acres. 
If  he  were  the  first  applicant,  the  surveyor-general 
would  then  have  the  tract  surveyed.  A  warrant  would 
then  be  issued  by  the  secretary  to  the  surveyor-general 
to  accept  the  survey  and  certify  it  to  the  secretary.  On 
payment  of  the  purchase  price,  usually  about  £5  to  £9 
sterling  per  100  acres,  the  secretary  would  issue  a 
patent.  Thereafter,  a  quit  rent  of  from  J^d.  to  id. 
per  100  acres  was  payable  annually  and  the  settler 
could  enter  into  possession. 

In  actual  practice,  however,  many  lands  were  not 
granted  in  this  manner  because  the  prospective  settler 
often  did  not  have  the  capital  it  required.  He  there- 
fore went  to  the  frontier,  squatted  on  a  piece  of  land, 
and  made  a  living  for  himself  and  his  family.  The 
tract  upon  which  he  settled  became  known  as  an  "im- 
provement" which  the  law  soon  came  to  recognize  as 
his  personal  property  which  he  could  sell.  The  Penns 
gave  to  the  squatter  the  first  opportunity  to  secure  a 
regular  legal  title  to  such  a  tract  of  land.  It  soon 
became  established  that  if  another  person  patented 
such  a  tract  he  must  first  pay  for  the  improvement. 
The  squatter  who  desired  a  legal  title  applied  for  a 
warrant  of  survey  which  would  be  issued  upon  his 
paying  down  part  of  the  purchase  money.     After  the 

344  Evans:    Brief  Account  of  Pennsylvania,  in  Du  Simitiere  Coll. 


238       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

survey  was  made  and  registered  it  was  practically  as 
good  as  a  patent;  consequently,  many  settlers  never 
secured  patents  for  their  lands.  However,  all  land 
in  Pennsylvania  was  not  immediately  thrown  open  to 
settlement  by  the  Penns.  Some  was  reserved  in  order 
to  secure  the  unearned  increment.  The  "Manor  of 
Pittsburg",  for  example,  was  thus  reserved  to  be  sold 
at  higher  rates.345 

The  first  lands  which  Croghan  secured  after  coming 
to  America  were  located  in  the  fertile  Cumberland 
valley.  Here  he  patented  in  1746,  1748,  and  1749, 
three  tracts  of  land  totaling  474  acres.  Nearby  were 
354  acres  which  had  been  patented  in  1744  and  then 
conveyed  to  Trent  and  Croghan ;  of  this  tract  Croghan 
became  sole  owner  in  1746.  In  1747,  he  added  210 
acres,  patented  in  1742.  In  the  same  year  he  pur- 
chased 172  acres  in  Paxtang  Township,  east  of  the 
Susquehanna;  this  tract  had  only  been  patented  since 
1738  and  yet  Croghan  was  its  fourth  owner.  In  1751, 
Richard  Hockley,  receiver-general  of  quit-rents  for 
the  Penns,  Trent,  and  Croghan  took  out  a  warrant  for 
300  acres  in  this  region.  Croghan  also  purchased  lots 
and  built  several  houses  in  Shippensburg  which  was 
just  being  laid  out.  Altogether,  within  four  years, 
Croghan  had  acquired  over  1,400  acres  within  a  short 
distance  of  Harris's  Ferry  and  along  the  important 
road  leading  to  Virginia. 

The  frequent  changes  in  the  ownership  of  these 
tracts  are  indicative  of  the  spirit  of  land  speculation 
prevalent  among  these  early  pioneers.  Croghan  early 
caught  this  spirit.     At  the  same  time  that  he  was  ac- 

345  Gov.  Penn  to  Lord  Shelburne,  Apr.  24,  1767,  in  King's  Manuscript, 
No.  206,  p.  208,  Br.  Museum;  Huston,  Charles:  History  and  Original 
Titles  to  Land  in  Pennsylvania. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  239 

quiring  new  lands  he  was  mortgaging  to  Philadel- 
phians,  who  had  surplus  capital  to  invest,  those  lands 
which  he  had  only  recently  acquired.  In  1747,  he 
mortgaged  two  tracts  to  Jeremiah  Warder  for  £500, 
which  he  paid  off  in  1749.  In  1748,  he  mortgaged 
two  other  tracts  to  Mary  Plumsted  for  £300.  In  1749, 
he  mortgaged  four  tracts  to  Richard  Peters,  secretary 
of  the  provincial  council  and  of  the  land  office,  for 
£1,000.  In  1 75 1,  after  Croghan  had  held  six  tracts  for 
only  five  years  or  less,  he  conveyed  them  to  Peters, 
thereby  cancelling  all  his  mortgages  and  receiving 
£1,000  besides.  His  business  relations  with  Peters  and 
Hockley,  two  influential  officials,  are  significant.346 

Land  operations  practically  ceased  during  the  de- 
cade from  1750  to  1760  as  a  result  of  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  When  they  were  resumed  in  1760,  the 
frontier  moved  rapidly  from  the  Cumberland  valley 
to  the  region  around  Bedford  and  Huntingdon.  Near 
these  places  Croghan  secured  legal  title  to  many  tracts 
of  land.  On  the  upper  Juniata  Croghan  secured  more 
than  fifteen  tracts  of  land,  varying  in  size  from  100 
to  800  acres.  One  tract  included  the  land  at  Augh- 
wick  where  he  had  settled  in  1754.  Another  was  the 
famous  "Standing  Stone  Improvement"  of  400  acres 
which  he  purchased  in  1760  for  £100  and  which  he 
sold  for  £300  in  1766  to  Dr.  William  Smith,  Provost 
of  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  Upon  it  Smith  laid 
out  the  city  of  Huntingdon.347  Along  Raystown 
Branch  of  the  Juniata,  along  Dunnings  Creek,  and 
near  Bedford,  Croghan  secured  upwards  of  twenty 
tracts  of  land.     Some  rivaled  in  excellence  those  which 

346  Deed  Bk.,  A,  i,  p.  19,  Register  of  Deeds,  Carlisle,  Pa.;  Peters  mss.,  ii, 
86,  113,  114,  120  and  VI,  87;  Pa.  Arch.,  3rd.  ser.,  II,  120;  Shippen  Corresp.  1, 

73- 

347  Deed  Bk.,  B,  i,  13,  Register  of  Deeds,  Carlisle,  Pa. 


240       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

the  Penns  reserved  in  the  Manor  of  Bedford.  One 
tract  close  to  Fort  Bedford  was  laid  out  into  town  lots. 
By  1763,  Bedford  had  fifty  houses  and  was  surrounded 
by  clearings  with  log  cabins  nestled  among  the  moun- 
tains. This  frontier  community  first  became  aware  of 
Pontiac's  uprising  when  fifteen  mowers,  busily  engaged 
on  one  of  Croghan's  fields  about  a  mile  from  the  Fort, 
were  attacked  on  June  30,  1763.348 

In  1767,  when  it  was  evident  that  the  Penns  would 
soon  open  the  lands  as  far  west  as  the  Ohio,  Croghan 
applied  to  them  for  a  special  order  for  40,000  acres. 
In  spite  of  their  close  friendly  relations  with  Croghan, 
the  Penns  remained  true  to  their  excellent  land  policy 
and  refused  to  make  such  large  grants.349  Some  conces- 
sions were,  however,  made  to  influential  frontiersmen. 
When  the  purchase  made  at  Fort  Stanwix  was  thrown 
open  to  settlement  on  April  3,  1769,  there  was  a  great 
rush  to  get  choice  lands.  A  regular  application  was 
limited  to  300  acres.  Forty-six  special  applications 
for  warrants  to  survey  were  granted  before  April  3 ; 
some  called  for  tracts  of  5,000  acres.350  They  were 
granted  to  provincial  soldiers  and  to  influential  fron- 
tiersmen. Croghan  filed  eight  applications  for  4,700 
acres  lying  near  Fort  Pitt.  One  called  for  1,500  acres 
to  include  his  plantation  upon  which  he  had  erected 
"Croghan  Hall".  This  actually  surveyed  1,352  acres 
and  is  today  within  the  city  limits  of  Pittsburg.  Of 
the  4,700  acres  applied  for,  Croghan  was  granted  only 
3,100  acres  because  the  Penns  gave  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  persons  who  had  secured  military  permits  to 
occupy  lands  and  the  second  to  those  who  had  made 

348  Penn  Physick  mss.,  iv,  47  and  VII,  5  ;  Pa.  Arch.,  3rd.  ser.,  iv,  No.  5  ; 
Official  Corresp.,  ix,  188,  Penn  mss.;  Pa.  Gazette,  July  7,  1763. 

349  Thomas  Penn  to  Croghan,  Sept.  12,  1767,  in  Penn  Letter  Bk.,  IX,  188. 

350  New  Purchase  Applications,  4-7 ;  Warantee  Atlas  of  Allegheny  County. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  241 

improvements  without  such  permits.  Croghan  also 
had  a  half  interest  in  five  applications  of  David  Franks 
which  gave  them  3,000  acres  on  Sewickly  Creek.351 

Meanwhile,  Croghan  also  purchased  a  tract  of  18 
acres  which  today  lies  within  the  limits  of  Philadel- 
phia. It  had  a  brick  house  upon  it  and  was  valued  at 
£2,000.  Here  he  planned  to  erect  a  fine  country  seat, 
"Monckton  Hall,"  where  he  could  live  during  his 
numerous  visits  in  the  east.352 

Croghan's  name  is  a  familiar  one  to  the  experts  of 
title  companies  of  Pennsylvania  because  of  the  fre- 
quency with  which  his  name  occurs  in  important  land 
records.  Altogether,  he  patented  only  about  2,500 
acres  and  many  of  the  lands  which  he  once  owned  are 
still  on  the  state  lien  list.  His  titles  to  about  10,000 
acres  were  based  on  warrants  of  survey  which  he  took 
out.  He  purchased  "improvements",  and  lands  to 
which  others  had  partial  or  complete  legal  titles;  these 
also  totaled  about  10,000  acres. 

Some  colonists,  like  Washington  and  Johnson, 
planned  to  build  up  vast  landed  estates  and  therefore 
granted  long-term  leases ;  in  contrast  to  these,  Croghan 
planned  to  develop  his  lands  slightly  and  then  to  sell 
them  in  small  tracts.  He  seldom  held  a  tract  of  land 
longer  than  five  years.  Many  of  his  lands  were  sold 
to  influential  easterners;  some  were  used  to  pay  debts 
or  to  raise  funds  for  his  journey  to  England  and  for  his 
contribution  to  the  expenses  of  land  companies.  He 
invested  all  of  his  surplus  funds  in  lands  and  when 
necessary,  he  used  them  as  security  for  loans.  He  had 
a  keen  eye  for  choice,  bottom  lands  located  on  a  main 
line  of  communication.       In  four  cases  he  took  up 

351  McAllister  Coll.,  Yi  2,  7311,  F43. 

352  Pa.  Gazette,  Aug.  26,  1772. 


242       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

tracts  of  lands  on  the  future  sites  of  cities.  He  almost 
always  purchased  lands  on  the  frontier  and  shifted  the 
scene  of  his  operations  as  the  frontier  moved  west- 
ward.353 

Croghan  was  also  interested  in  lands  on  the  frontier 
in  New  York.  The  land  policy  of  this  colony  offered 
great  contrasts  to  the  excellent  land  policy  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  latter  served  the  welfare  of  the  pioneer 
settler,  while  the  former  served  the  interests  of  the 
land  speculator  and  the  great  landowner.  The  great 
landowners  of  New  York  usually  aimed  to  build  up 
vast,  semi-feudal  estates;  they  offered  settlers  leases 
instead  of  titles  in  fee  simple  and  planned  to  exploit 
their  labor.  This  system  was  in  part  inherited  by  the 
English  from  the  patroon  system  of  the  Dutch.  It 
was  at  its  heighth  during  the  period  from  1690  to  1710; 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  colonial  period  efforts 
were  made  to  throw  off  the  control  of  the  great  land- 
owners, but  with  discouraging  results. 

The  land  system  of  New  York  was  intrically  inter- 
woven with  politics.  The  great  landowners  through 
their  membership  in  the  provincial  council  and 
through  their  influence  with  the  governor  and  the 
assembly  were  able  to  control  the  granting  of  lands. 
Large  grants  of  from  10,000  to  200,000  acres  were  fre- 
quently made  to  members  of  the  council  or  to  their 
friends.  Among  the  estates  built  up  in  this  manner 
were  those  of  the  Schuylers,  the  Livingstons,  and  the 

353  Besides  the  sources  indicated  in  the  preceding  six  notes,  the  follow- 
ing sources  were  used  for  the  above  account:  Ohio  Co.  mss. ;  Deed  Box, 
1760-1801,  Penn  mss.;  Pa.  Arch.,  3rd.  ser.,  i-v  andxxn;  Deed  Bk.,  A,  1  and 
11,  B,  1,  and  D,  lxviii,  Register  of  Deeds,  Carlisle,  Pa. ;  Deed  Bk.,  H,  I  and 
F,  I,  Huntingdon,  Pa.;  Deed  Bk.,  1,  Nos.  2,  5,  6,  and  10;  Deed  Bk.,  D, 
1777-1800,  No.  10,  and  Mortgage  Bk.,  x,  Philadelphia;  New  Purchase  Appli- 
cations, West  Side  Applications,  Copied  Surveys,  Warrant  Registers,  and 
Patent  Books,  on  file  in  the  Department  of  Internal  Affairs,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  243 

Johnsons.  All  vacant  lands  in  New  York  belonged 
to  the  crown,  but  in  granting  them  it  had  to  make  use 
of  local  provincial  officials.  The  few  loyal  officials 
like  Colden  were  unable  to  check  the  prodigal  waste 
of  the  crown's  resources. 

Thus  New  York  was  handicapped  in  her  competi- 
tion with  New  England,  Pennsylvania,  and  New 
Jersey  for  settlers.  As  a  result  of  her  land  system  and 
of  the  necessity  until  1763  to  avoid  offending  the  Iro- 
quois, New  York  lacked  expansive  power.  This  it  did 
not  acquire  until  the  American  Revolution  broke  the 
power  of  the  Iroquois  and  overthrew  the  landed 
oligarchy.  When  this  was  done,  especially  after  the 
Erie  Canal  was  opened,  New  York  City  supplanted 
Philadelphia  as  the  metropolis  of  the  American  Con- 
tinent, and  New  York  took  its  place  among  the  leading 
states  of  the  union. 

The  British  imperial  government  came  early  to 
view  the  operations  of  the  New  York  land  speculators 
with  disfavor.  It  aimed  to  encourage  the  growth  of 
the  empire  by  enabling  the  poor  immigrant  to  secure 
his  land  from  the  state  instead  of  from  land  specula- 
tors. It  sought  to  curb  the  speculators  and  large  land 
owners  through  royal  instructions  to  the  governors. 
Those  issued  in  1708,  to  Governor  Lovelace  are  a  land- 
mark and  differed  but  little  from  those  under  which 
Governors  Colden  and  Moore  awarded  grants  to  Cro- 
ghan.  The  instructions  sent  to  Colden  and  Moore  for- 
bade the  granting  of  tracts  larger  than  1,000  acres  to 
one  individual,  or  the  surveying  of  tracts  so  as  to  in- 
clude none  but  the  most  fertile  lands  or  lands  along 
navigable  rivers.  They  declared  a  grant  null  and  void 
unless  a  certain  proportion  of  the  land  was  cultivated 
and  settled  within  a  reasonable  period  of  time.     They 


244       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

also  required  the  governor  in  person  to  make  all  pur- 
chases of  land  from  the  Indians.354  How  these  bene- 
volent imperial  regulations  were  overcome  by  large 
land  speculators  is  well  illustrated  by  Croghan's  land 
operations  in  New  York. 

In  1765,  Croghan  sent  a  memorial  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  asking  for  a  grant  of  20,000  acres  in  New  York 
as  a  bounty  for  his  services  during  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  By  the  proclamation  of  1763,  a  land 
bounty  was  offered  to  the  soldiers  who  had  served  in 
this  war;  the  highest  amount  offered  to  any  officer  was 
5,000  acres.  General  Gage,  Sir  William  Johnson, 
John  Stuart,  and  others  petitioned  for  such  grants. 
Croghan's  memorial  was  considered  along  with  thirty- 
eight  others,  each  asking  for  either  10,000  or  20,000 
acres.  The  Board  of  Trade  recommended  that  half 
the  amount  asked  for  be  granted  to  each  petitioner. 
Croghan  was  one  of  the  four  who  were  recommended 
for  10,000  acres.  On  September  6,  1765,  an  order  in 
council  was  issued  granting  him  10,000  acres  in  New 
York  without  the  payment  of  any  fees  or  purchase 
money  and  free  from  quit-rents  for  ten  years.  The 
Board  of  Trade  had  recommended,  however,  that  no 
applications  for  land  should  be  considered  in  the  future 
unless  they  related  to  the  new  colonies  or  offered 
special  reasons  to  induce  deviation  from  the  ordinary 
method  of  granting  lands.355 

Croghan  did  not  forget  the  additional  10,000  acres 
for  which  he  had  unsuccessfully  petitioned.     While 

354  Instructions  to  Gov.  Monckton,  1762,  in  N.Y.  Council  Minutes,  VI, 
391;  Instructions  to  Gov.  Moore,  1767,  in  C.  O.,  5:  201;  Spencer,  C.  W.: 
"The  Land  System  of  Colonial  New  York,"  in  N.Y.  State  Hist.  Ass'n  Proc, 
xvi,  150-164. 

355  Croghan's  Memorial,  in  C.  O.,  5:  1071  p.  403;  Bd.  of  Tr.  Journal, 
lxxiii,  165-168  and  lxxvi,  143,  144,  151,  153;  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plantations 
General,  xxvi,  A20;  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  IV,  819  and  v,  596. 


U»  EUilHS 


aw»ttjifi  w  humhi 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  247 

his  memorial  had  been  under  consideration  in  London, 
he  was  again  risking  his  life  in  the  hostile  western 
wilderness  in  the  service  of  his  king.  For  such  ser- 
vices Croghan  was  paid  but  £200  a  year.  The  heavy 
war  debts  would  not  allow  England  to  raise  salaries 
at  this  time,  but  it  was  feasible  to  reward  her  loyal 
officials  with  land  grants.  It  was  under  such  condi- 
tions that  Croghan,  in  1768,  prepared  a  memorial  to 
the  King  in  Council  asking  for  the  10,000  acres  for 
which  he  had  asked  in  vain  in  1765.  John  and 
Thomas  Penn  helped  to  present  his  case.  On  August 
12,  1768,  "because  of  the  special  merits  of  the  Peti- 
tioner", Croghan's  petition  was  granted.356 

It  now  remained  for  Croghan  to  find  20,000  acres 
of  ungranted  lands  to  which  the  Indian  title  had  been 
extinguished  and  to  patent  it.  On  February  14,  1770, 
he  petitioned  the  governor  and  council  of  New  York 
that  he  be  granted  a  patent  for  two  adjacent  tracts  of 
9,000  acres  each  in  Cherry  valley  and  that  they  be 
organized  into  a  township  named  "Belvedere",  and 
that  it  might  have  popular  election  of  its  officials. 
Evidently  Croghan  intended  to  attract  settlers  by  insur- 
ing them  greater  self-government  than  the  average  New 
York  landlord  permitted.     His  petition  was  granted.357 

Croghan's  success  in  obtaining  these  grants  and  the 
desire  to  be  near  his  intimate  friend,  Johnson,  caused 
him  to  change  his  residence  from  Pennsylvania  to  New 

356  C.  O.,  5:  1073  f.  209  and  1080,  f.  287;  C.  O.,  5:  11 30,  f.  424;  Penn 
MSS..,  II,  62;  Thomas  Penn  to  Croghan,  Apr.  11,  1767,  in  Penn  Letter  Bk., 
IX,  107. 

357  N.Y.  Council  Minutes,  xxix,  357;  Land  Pap.,  xxvi,  122;  Bk.  of  Pat- 
ents, xv,  256-263.  Unless  otherwise  specified,  the  Land  Papers,  Books  of 
Patents,  and  Books  of  Deeds  referred  to  in  connection  with  New  York 
lands  are  to  be  found  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Cockburn, 
W.:  A  Map  of  the  Province  of  N.Y.,  1774;  Sauthier,  C.  J.:  Chorographi- 
cal  Map  of  N.Y.,  1779.  The  Council  Minutes  show  that  such  grants  were 
common  during  this  period. 


248       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

York.  Many  legal  documents  of  the  time  speak  of 
Croghan  as  "formerly  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania, 
now  of  the  Province  of  New  York."  Doubtless  he 
desired  to  be  on  the  ground  to  take  advantage  of  the 
rapid  extension  of  the  frontier  line  in  central  New 
York  which  was  being  made  at  this  time.  This  move- 
ment was  accelerated  by  the  fact  that  nearly  every 
patent  issued  included  thousands  of  acres  of  land. 
The  lands  in  the  upper  Mohawk  valley  were  being 
patented  by  the  aristocrats  of  New  York,  but  those 
around  the  headwaters  of  the  Susquehanna  were 
largely  taken  up  by  a  group  of  land  speculators  from 
Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey.  Governor  Franklin, 
Richard  Smith,  and  Charles  Reade  -  all  from  Bur- 
lington, New  Jersey  -  together  with  Lieutenant  Au- 
gustine Prevost,  William  Trent,  Alexander  McKee, 
and  Samuel,  Joseph  and  Thomas  Wharton  were  the 
most  prominent  members  of  this  group.  Most  of  these 
were  either  relatives  or  close  associates  of  Croghan. 
He  made  an  Indian  purchase  for  Governor  Franklin, 
Trent,  and  Samuel  Wharton,  which  was  supposed  to 
contain  130,000  acres.  This  became  known  as  the 
"Otego,"  or  "New  Burlington"  tract. 

Though  the  first  patent  in  the  famous  Cherry  valley 
region  had  been  issued  in  1738,  the  region  had  devel- 
oped so  slowly  that  at  this  time  contemporary  maps 
showed  nothing  here  except  the  names  of  the  larger 
streams  and  lakes.  The  name  "Croghan's  Forest",358 
which  like  "Mt.  Vernon"  or  "Johnson  Hall"  came  to 
denote  the  residence  of  a  large  landowner,  is  eloquent 
testimony  of  the  nature  of  the  country  and  also  of 
Croghan's  important  relation  to  it.     Eight  years  after 

358  Day:  Calendar  of  Sir  William  Johnson  mss.,  495;  Misc.  mss.,  1,  141, 
Etting  Coll. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  249 

his  death,  when  the  first  United  States  census  was  taken, 
the  frontier  line  showed  a  distinct  inland  curve  south 
and  west  of  the  Otsego  and  Cherry  valley  region;  for 
this  Croghan  was  largely  responsible. 

Croghan  and  his  friends  enlisted  the  influence  of 
Johnson,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Council  and  a  close 
personal  friend  of  Governor  Colden.  On  one  occa- 
sion Johnson  wrote  to  Colden  introducing  Croghan  as 
one  who  has  "some  Land  matters  to  Settle  and  Patents 
to  take  out  at  NYork  In  which  he  hopes  for  your  Coun- 
tenance .  .  .  as  he  is  a  Gent  that  is  Well  known, 
and  one  for  whom  I  have  always  had  a  great  regard, 
I  persuade  myself  he  will  meet  with  your  notice."  359 
On  June  27,  1767,  Croghan  and  thirty-nine  nominal 
associates,  petitioned  the  governor  and  council  for  a 
license  to  purchase  from  the  Iroquois  40,000  acres  of 
land  west  of  Lake  Otsego.  This  was  to  be  deeded  by 
the  Indians  to  George  III  in  trust  "for  the  sole  use  and 
benefit  of  the  petitioners".  On  the  same  day  another 
group,  which  included  Lieutenant  Augustine  Pre- 
vost,  Croghan's  son-in-law,  filed  a  similar  petition  for 
260,000  acres  around  the  headwaters  of  the  Delaware. 
In  both  petitions  there  occurs  the  following  stereotyped 
reference  to  the  proclamation  of  1763:  the  petition- 
ers "humbly  conceive  that  the  Royal  intention  in  said 
Proclamation  was  solely  to  prevent  the  defrauding 
the  Indians  in  purchases  made  by  Private  Persons,  and 
not  to  Inhibit  Purchases  made  for  the  Benefit  of  Pri- 
vate Persons  if  made  in  his  Majesty's  Name  with  the 
Intervention  of  his  Governors  or  Commanders  in  chief 
and  at  the  Expense  of  such  Private  Persons.  .  . 
That  your  Petitioners  are  willing  and  beg  leave  to 
offer  to  attend  the  said  Indians     ...     to  this  City, 

359  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  11,  956. 


250       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  defray  the  Expenses  of  their  Journey,  to  take  care 
of  them  during  their  Residence  here,  and  to  pay  the 
Consideration  money  which  your  Excellency  may 
agree  to  give  for  such  Purchase."  Croghan  had  pre- 
viously used  his  friendship  with  the  Indians  to  per- 
suade them  to  sell.  His  petition  ended  by  asking 
the  governor  to  meet  the  Indians  and  make  the 
purchase,  and  that  the  petitioners  be  granted  a  patent 
for  the  lands  thus  purchased.  It  was  signed  "George 
Croghan  fer  himself  and  associates."  This  petition 
was  granted  on  July  6,  1767,  and  Governor  Moore 
made  the  purchase  at  Croghan's  expense  at  a  meeting 
with  the  Indians  at  Johnson's  residence  on  June  10, 
1768.360 

Such  was  the  method  used  in  New  York  to  circum- 
vent the  proclamation  of  1763.  It  could  hardly  be 
used  by  the  poor  pioneer,  but  the  influential  land  spec- 
ulators used  it  so  successfully  that  a  rapid  extension 
of  the  frontier  was  in  progress  in  New  York  before 
1768.  The  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  made  in  that  year, 
instead  of  aiding  the  expansion,  as  is  usually  stated, 
hindered  it,  for  it  set  up  a  definite  Indian  boundary 
line  as  a  barrier.  For  a  few  years,  however,  the  sur- 
veyor with  his  rod  and  chain  was  a  common  sight  in 
the  forests  around  Lake  Otsego  and  the  upper  Mohawk 
River.  The  method  used  in  New  York  to  circumvent 
the  proclamation  of  1763  is  significant  also  because  it 
served  as  a  precedent  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  for 
Croghan's  Ohio  grant  and  for  the  grant  to  the  Indiana 
Company. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  purchase  made  for 
Croghan  west  of  Lake  Otsego,  contained  when  sur- 

360  Land  Pap.,  xxm,  159;  N.Y.  Council  Minutes,  xxix,  244,  245,  255, 
286,  305. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  25  I 

veyed,  not  40,000  acres,  but  100,000  acres.  Such  a 
large  tract  could  not  be  patented  in  the  name  of  one 
individual.  Croghan  therefore  followed  the  method 
which  had  been  discovered  by  the  "big  interests"  of 
the  day  to  attain  their  ends.  He  associated  himself 
with  ninety-nine  of  his  friends  whose  names  were  made 
use  of  for  his  particular  and  sole  benefit.  As  pros- 
pective "tenants  in  common  and  not  joint  tenants",  on 
March  15,  1769,  they  petitioned  for  a  patent  granting 
each  one  1,000  acres.  On  November  30,  after  the  sur- 
vey had  been  returned,  the  patent  was  issued  to  George 
Croghan  and  his  associates.  The  crown  reserved  for- 
ever all  gold  and  silver  mines  and  required  a  yearly 
quit-rent  of  2s.  6d.  sterling  per  one  hundred  acres. 
Pine  trees  suitable  for  masts  for  the  royal  navy  were  not 
to  be  cut  down.  Within  three  years  three  acres  out  of 
every  fifty  acres  were  to  be  cultivated  and  one  family 
settled  for  every  one  thousand  acres.  If  these  con- 
ditions were  not  complied  with,  or  if  the  patent  was  not 
registered  within  six  months,  it  was  to  be  void.  Two 
days  after  the  patent  had  been  issued,  his  ninety-nine 
associates  conveyed  to  Croghan  the  lands  which  they 
had  just  received.  Each  individual  according  to  the 
deeds  was  paid  £50  by  Croghan,  but  probably  received 
nothing.361 

Thus  by  1770,  Croghan  had  patented  in  New  York, 
Belvedere  Township  of  18,000  acres  and  the  Otsego 
tract  of  100,000  acres.  He  at  once  proceeded  to  pur- 
chase adjacent  lands  until  he  had  acquired  over  250,- 
000  acres  around  Lake  Otsego  and  Cherry  valley.362 
These  included  the  Skinner  patent  of  40,000  acres  lying 

361  Croghan's  petition  for  a  warrant  to  survey,  in  Land  Pap.,  xxiv,  73 ; 
idem,  xxvi,  39 ;  Croghan's  patent,  Nov.  30,  1769,  in  Bk.  of  Patents,  xiv,  466- 
472 ;  Bk.  of  Deeds,  xvm,  257-260. 

362  Bk.  of  Deeds,  xvm,  260-275;   Gratz-Croghan  Deeds;   Gratz-Croghan 


252       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


southeast  of  Be^fcere;  the  McKee  patent  of  40,000 
acres  lying  southwe^kf  Belvedere;  and  the  Butler  or 
kkTunaderry"  p  a  ten  t^F  47,000  acres  lying  southwest  of 
his  Otsego  patent,  tit  also  purchased  1,893  acres  of 
the  Bowen  patent  on  Schoharie  Creek.  Most  of  the 
patents  were  less  than  a  year  old  when  Croghan  pur- 
chased them.  These  lands  were  well  selected.  When 
Washington,  who  had  a  keen  eye  for  good  lands,  visited 
Lake  Otsego  on  his  western  tour  in  1783,  he  was  im- 
pressed with  their  excellent  location.363 

When  Croghan  decided  to  settle  in  New  York,  he 
selected  as  the  site  for  his  future  home,  a  delightful 
location  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Otsego.  Here  was  the 
source  of  the  Susquehanna  which  at  this  place  was  a 
swift  little  stream  twelve  yards  wide.  In  the  lake  near 
its  source  lay  "Council  Rock",  later  made  famous  by 
James  Fenimore  Cooper.  Towering  white  pines 
formed  the  background,  while  a  natural  strawberry 
patch  and  some  copper  ore  invited  exploitation.  Fish 
and  game  abounded.  "A  very  pleasant  place"  was  the 
comment  of  an  officer  in  General  Sullivan's  expedition 
who  camped  here  in  1779.  Hartwick  had  planned  to 
include  it  in  his  patent,  but  his  survey  had  left  it 
outside.364 

Croghan  came  to  Otsego  in  1769  to  supervise  its 
development  in  person.  The  ensuing  year  and  a  half 
constituted  one  of  the  happiest  periods  of  his  life.  It 
was  the  period  of  great  activity  in  the  Otsego  region. 
Croghan,  with  his  indentured  servants,  carpenters,  and 

mss.,  I,  19;  The  Butler  patent  had  been  patented  for  Croghan  by  John 
Butler,  the  notorious  tory  colonel   during  the  Revolution. 

363  Washington:     Writings,  x>  325. 

364Halsey,  Francis  W.:  The  Old  New  York  Frontier,  125;  Lt.  Beatty's 
Journal,  in  Cook,  Frederick:  Journals  of  the  Expedition  of  Gen.  Sullivan, 
20.     Croghan's  house  was  used  as  a  magazine  by  Beatty's  detachment. 


i 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES         <  253 

other  free  laborers,  and  such  liutfjjas  could  be  em- 
ployed, engaged  in  the  work  of  t^Esforming  his  visions 
into  realities.  Two  dwelling  flKses  and  eight  other 
buildings    were    soon    erected.     Around    these,    four 

Ids  were  cleared  and  fenced.  A  large  batteau  was 
built  for  use  on  the  lake  and  a  bridge  was  erected  over 
the  Susquehanna.  A  millwright  came  to  view  the  best 
site  for  the  erection  of  a  sawmill  and  a  gristmill. 
Work  was  begun  to  make  the  Susquehanna  navigable 
for  canoes  by  hiring  Indians  to  remove  the  logs  from 
within  it.  There  was  a  wagon  road  which  led  north- 
ward into  the  Mohawk  valley,  but  Croghan  planned 
to  open  a  road  which  would  run  east  and  connect  with 
the  road  which  ran  from  the  Schoharie  settlements 
through  the  Catskill  Mountains  to  the  Hudson  River. 
So  well  supplied  was  Croghan  with  skilled  indentured 
servants  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  that  he  loaned  to  John- 
son a  bricklayer,  a  mason,  and  a  gardener  at  different 
times.  In  return  Johnson  gave  him  some  fine  sheep. 
Croghan  already  had  cattle  which  successfully  win- 
tered in  the  woods  without  hay;  they  furnished  Cro- 
ghan and  his  guests  with  butter  which  tasted  like  wild 
garlic.  Hogs  and  poultry  were  soon  added  and  four 
wagons  were  employed  to  bring  in  crockery,  glass,  and 
other  goods.  In  the  meantime,  surveyors  were  pre- 
paring part  of  his  land  for  sale  and  Croghan  was 
advertising  in  Connecticut  for  settlers.  "Croghan  had 
several  elegant  improvements  at  this  place  and  exceed- 
ingly well  situated  for  trade",  wrote  a  surgeon  in 
1779.365 

Croghan's  house  soon  became  a  landmark.     Travel- 

365  Surveyor  Pitkin's  sketch,  1774,  in  Bk.  of  Deeds,  xx,  315;  Johnson  mss., 
xvii,  126,  185,  225,  xviii,  35,  and  xix,  15;  Journal  of  Dr.  C.  McArthur 
1779,  in  Du  Simitiere  Coll. 


254       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ers  made  it  their  headquarters  and  Indians  visited  it 
so  that  Croghan  seldom  had  an  hour  to  himself.  He 
wrote  to  Johnson  on  March  17,1770:  "Ever  since  I 
gott  here  to  my  Hutt  we  have  been  as  full  of  visitors  as 
possible."  366  Richard  Smith,  who  visited  Croghan  in 
1769,  noted  in  his  journal  on  May  26:  "Last  Night 
a  drunken  Indian  came  and  kissed  Col.  Croghan  and 
me  very  joyously;  here  are  natives  of  different  Nations 
almost  continually;  they  visit  the  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent as  Dogs  to  the  Bone  for  what  they  can  get."  36T  It 
ought  to  be  added  that  it  was  probably  for  the  same 
reason  that  Smith,  himself,  partook  of  Croghan's  hos- 
pitality. Croghan's  prospects  for  enjoying  life  at 
Otsego  were  increased  when  his  only  white  child, 
Susannah,  and  her  family  settled  at  the  opposite  end 
of  Lake  Otsego  on  6,061  acres  which  Croghan  had  sold 
to  her  husband,  Lieutenant  Augustine  Prevost.  Life 
looked  so  attractive  to  them  here  that  Susannah's  hus- 
band sold  his  commission  in  the  British  army  to  build 
a  home  on  the  frontier. 

Besides  securing  lands  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
in  the  1760's,  Croghan  also  tried  to  secure  200,000  acres 
at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio.  He  stated  that  at  the  Logs- 
town  conference  in  August,  1749,  three  Ohio  Iroquois 
chiefs,  Johonerissa,  Scaroyadia,  and  Cosswentanicea,  in 
return  for  a  large  assortment  of  Indian  goods,  sold  to 
him  three  tracts  of  land ;  one  of  40,000  acres  just  east 
of  the  site  of  Fort  Pitt,  one  of  60,000  acres  located  on 
both  sides  of  the  Youghiogheny  at  the  mouth  of 
Sewickly  Creek,  and  one  of  100,000  acres  west  of  the 
lower  Monongahela.368     About  1760,  Croghan  began 

366  Johnson  mss.,  xviii,  238. 

367  Halsey,  Francis  W. :  A  Tour  of  Four  Great  Rivers,  etc.,  47 ;  cf. 
also  29,  34,  36,  37,  and  81. 

368  The    earliest    documents    found    which    refer    to    this    purchase    are 


TBI  m 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  257 

to  develop  the  Youghiogheny  tract  in  association  with 
Clapham  and  on  the  tract  east  of  Fort  Pitt  he  built 
Croghan  Hall.  He  strengthened  his  claims  by  secur- 
ing military  licenses  for  these  improvements. 

When  he  was  in  England  in  1764,  he  sought  to  secure 
royal  confirmation  of  his  grant.  He  presented  a  mem- 
orial to  the  Board  of  Trade  which  referred  to  his  past 
services,  described  the  grant,  admitted  the  wisdom  and 
legal  necessity  for  securing  royal  confirmation,  and 
then  requested  permission  to  locate  the  grant  in  New 
York  and  to  have  the  governor  of  New  York  instructed 
to  issue  patents  for  it.  After  due  consideration,  the 
Board  decided  that  it  could  not  "with  propriety  and 
Policy  either  in  respect  to  the  largeness  of  the  quantity, 
or  the  terms  of  the  Proclamation  of  October  7,  1763," 
grant  the  petition.369 

Croghan's  claims  needed  immediate  strengthening  in 
1768  when  all  three  tracts  were  included  in  the  Indian 
purchase  made  at  Fort  Stanwix.  Johnson  supported 
Croghan  in  securing  the  insertion  of  clauses  renewing 
Croghan's  grant  in  the  deed  for  this  purchase.     The 

dated  1762.  The  deed  was  dated  Aug  2.  Croghan  did  not  arrive  at 
Logstown  till  after  August  12,  when  Celoron  left,  but  the  deed  may  have 
been  drawn  up  beforehand.  It  might  be  that  he  used  part  of  the  pro- 
vincial present  to  make  the  purchase.  No  copy  of  the  deed  dated  1749  was 
found,  but  the  deed  made  out  in  1768  quotes  it  at  length.  This  deed  was 
recorded  in  Philadelphia  in  1769.  (Register  of  Deeds,  Bk.  D,  v,  239-242), 
in  Augusta  Co.,  Va.,  in  1775,  at  Pittsburg  in  1775,  and  at  Staunton,  Va., 
in  1777. 

This  Indian  purchase  is  frequently,  but  erroneously  associated  with 
Croghan's  purchase  of  the  Indian  title  to  the  Otsego  patent  in  New  York. 
The  latter  was  made  four  months  before  the  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix.  This 
error  is  made  in  Halsey:  The  Old  New  York  Frontier,  103;  Halsey:  A 
Tour  of  Four  Great  Rivers,  etc.,  36 ;  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  Vn,  983m ;  Craig, 
"George  Croghan"  in  Egle's  Notes  and  Querries,  3rd.  ser.,  w,  348;  Hanna: 
Wilderness  Trail,  w,  59;  Byars:  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  90;  and  in  ///.  Hist. 
Coll.,  x,  221  n. 

369  Croghan's  Memorial,  in  C.  O.,  5:  1070,  p.  531;  Bd.  of  Tr.  Journal, 
lxxii,  258,  278. 


258       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Iroquois  included  it  in  their  cession  to  the  King  of 
England  in  trust  "to  and  for  the  only  Use,  Benefit  and 
Behoof  of  the  said  George  Croghan"  and  stipulated 
that  if  any  of  the  three  tracts  should  fall  within  the 
limits  of  Pennsylvania  that  Croghan  should  be  per- 
mitted to  locate  a  corresponding  amount  elsewhere 
within  the  purchase.  Croghan's  grant  was  thus  recog- 
nized by  all  the  chiefs  and  colonial  officials  who  signed 
the  treaty. 

Before  Croghan's  claim  should  become  incontest- 
able, however,  this  reservation  and  the  entire  treaty 
had  to  be  confirmed  by  the  crown.  The  treaty  was 
first  sent  to  the  Board  of  Trade  for  study  and  recom- 
mendation. Delays  now  ensued.  Lord  Hillsborough 
referred  in  part  to  Croghan's  grant  when  he  criticized 
Johnson  for  "the  improper  conditions  with  which  he 
has  suffered  the  Cession  from  the  Six  Nations  to  be 
clogged.  .  ."  370  He  also  stated  that  Croghan's  grant 
was  too  large  for  any  subject  in  America.  Gage  felt 
that  Croghan  deserved  consideration,  but  that  to  con- 
firm his  grant  would  set  a  precedent  which  would  lead 
to  endless  difficulties.  Finally,  on  May  13,  1769, 
Johnson  was  informed  that  the  treaty  was  ratified,  but 
that  Croghan's  grant  was  not  included,  but  reserved 
for  further  consideration  when  he  should  make  formal 
application.  This  Gage  advised  Croghan  to  do.  The 
latter  felt  that  he  had  made  his  purchase  honestly  and 
openly  and  that  his  services  for  twenty  years  deserved 
consideration.  He  therefore  ignored  the  opinion  of 
Hillsborough.371 

After  1768,  however,  he  acknowledged  the  fact  that 

370  Hillsborough  to  Gage,  March  24,  1769,  in  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.,  II,  513. 

371  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.Y.j  II,  517,  938  and  iv,  420;  Johnson  mss.,  xviii,  2,  268; 
Plan  of  the  Manor  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  Arch.,  3rd.  ser.,  iv,  No.  50. 


INDIVIDUAL  PURCHASES  259 

the  tract  east  of  Pittsburg  and  the  one  on  the  Youghio- 
gheny  fell  within  Pennsylvania.  The  Penns  laid 
out  the  Manor  of  Pittsburg  which  respected  one 
of  his  tracts,  but  overlapped  another,  and  they  pro- 
ceeded to  sell  two  of  his  tracts.  He  applied  to  them 
for  title  in  fee  simple  to  4,700  acres  falling  within  the 
two  easternmost  tracts.  Though  he  now  tacitly 
dropped  his  claims  to  these,  he  asserted  his  claim  to  the 
third  and  largest  tract.  This  he  felt  assured  fell  out- 
side of  Penn's  grant  and  hence,  as  part  of  Virginia,  it 
belonged  to  the  King  who  had  not  denied,  but  only 
postponed  consideration  of  Croghan's  claims.  But 
above  all,  he  relied  on  the  establishment  of  a  new 
colony  southwest  of  Pennsylvania  to  give  him  an  in- 
contestable title  to  it.  His  hopes  now  centered  upon 
the  outcome  of  the  struggle  to  secure  the  establishment 
of  a  new  colony  along  the  upper  Ohio. 


Relations  to  Great  Land  Companies, 

I7^3~I773 

Croghan  became  a  member  of  three  important  land 
companies  -  the  Illinois  Company,  the  Indiana  Com- 
pany, and  the  Grand  Ohio  Company.  Eastern  cap- 
italists valued  his  membership  highly  because  of  his 
expert  knowledge  of  western  lands  and  because  of  his 
great  influence  with  the  Indians.  His  initiative  and 
his  inspiring  faith  in  the  West  had  an  important  bear- 
ing on  the  formation  of  these  companies.  He  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  organization  of  the  Illinois  Com- 
pany; 372  he  was  one  of  the  two  or  three  leaders  who 
organized  the  Indiana  Company,  though  he  wisely 
kept  in  the  background  in  this  case;  the  Grand  Ohio 
Company  owed  its  rise  largely  to  the  influence  of  the 
Illinois  and  Indiana  projects  and  its  chief  organizer, 
Samuel  Wharton,  owed  much  of  his  interest  in  the 
West  to  his  past  associations  with  Croghan. 

The  establishment  of  a  colony  in  the  northwest  had 
been  advocated  in  England  as  early  as  1763.  In  1764, 
while  in  London,  Croghan's  opinion  on  the  project  of 
some  Englishmen  to  establish  a  colony  in  the  Illinois 
country  was  sought  by  Lord  Halifax  and  the  former 
supported  it  before  the  Board  of  Trade.373  The  chief 
arguments  advanced  were  that  it  would  serve  as  an 
outpost  on  the  furthest  frontier  against  the  French  and 

372  William  Franklin  to  Benjamin  Franklin,  Apr.  30,  1766,  in  ///.  Hist. 
Coll.,  xi,  222. 

373///.  Hist.  Coll.,  X,  222,  260. 


262       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Spaniards,  assist  in  controlling  the  Indians  and  in 
securing  their  trade,  and  provide  provisions  for  the 
English  garrison  and  for  export.  In  opposition,  it 
was  argued  at  this  and  at  later  times  that  such  a  colony 
would  lead  to  Indian  wars,  to  troubles  with  the  French 
and  Spaniards,  and  draw  settlers  away  from  the  sea- 
board into  the  interior.  Here  they  could  not  buy  Eng- 
lish manufactured  goods  nor  raise  products  England 
needed  and  they  would  be  hard  to  govern. 

When  Croghan  returned  to  America,  he  probably 
discussed  the  matter  with  Johnson  and  with  his  friends 
in  Philadelphia.  Little  was  known  about  the  Illinois 
country  when  Croghan  left  on  his  first  journey  thither 
in  1765.  He  therefore  kept  a  separate  journal  wherein 
he  described  minutely  the  nature  of  the  country.  The 
following  are  typical  entries:  "the  Country  [around 
Vincennes]  is  level  and  clear  and  the  Soil  very  rich 
producing  Wheat  and  Tobacco  I  think  the  latter  pre- 
ferable to  that  of  Maryland  or  Virginia."  "we  trav- 
eled thro  a  prodigious  large  Meadow  [near  the  Wa- 
bash River]  .  .  .  here  is  no  wood  to  be  seen  and 
the  Country  appears  like  an  ocean  the  ground  is 
exceedingly  rich.  .  .  The  Land  well  watered  and 
full  of  BufTuloes  Deer  Bears  and  all  Kind  of  Wild 
Game.  .  .  It  is  surprising  what  False  information 
we  have  respecting  this  Country  some  mention  this 
Spacious  and  Beautiful  Meadows  as  large  and  Barren 
Savannahs  I  apprehend  it  has  been  the  Artifice  of  the 
French  to  Keep  us  ignorant  of  the  Country  These 
Meadows  bear  fine  Wild  Grass  and  wild  Hemp  10  or 
12  Feet  High  which  if  properly  Manufactured  would 
prove  as  good  and  answer  the  Same  purposes  of  the 
Hemp  we  cultivate."  At  the  close  of  his  journey  he 
wrote  to  Benjamin  Franklin  that  "The  Illinois  Coun- 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  263 

try,  far  exceeds  any  other  part  of  America,  that  I  have 
seen  -  both  as  to  Soil  and  Climate",  and  to  Johnson 
he  wrote  that  the  colony  would  depend  on  Great 
Britain  for  clothing,  but  it  would  "soon  be  able,  ex- 
clusive of  provision,  to  raise  readily  indigo,  sugar, 
cotton,  oil,  tobacco,  rice,  hemp  and  hops  (the  two 
latter  of  which  grow  spontaneously  in  many  parts)  and 
in  time  raw  silk  as  the  country  abounds  with  immense 
quantities  of  white  mulberry  Trees."  374 

On  his  return  from  the  Illinois  country  early  in 
1766,  Croghan  stopped  at  Johnson  Hall  and  persuaded 
Johnson,  who  had  been  lukewarm,  to  write  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  in  carefully  chosen  general  terms, 
to  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  Illinois. 
Croghan  then  went  to  New  York  to  report  to  Gage; 
shortly  afterwards,  the  latter  was  writing  to  Conway, 
the  Secretary  of  War,  concerning  the  military  value  of 
a  colony  in  the  Illinois  country.  Croghan  and  John- 
son tried  to  interest  Gage  in  their  plan,  but  he  always 
declined  to  participate  in  a  colonizing  project.  Mean- 
time, Croghan  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin who  was  in  London  and  enclosed  a  copy  of  his 
journal  and  of  his  long  explanatory  letter  to  Johnson. 
From  New  York,  Croghan  went  to  Philadelphia  to 
prepare  for  his  second  mission  to  the  Illinois  country. 

Before  leaving  Philadelphia,  he  conferred  with 
Governor  Franklin,  John  Baynton,  Samuel  Wharton, 
George  Morgan,  Joseph  Wharton,  Joseph  Wharton, 
Jr.,  John  Hughes,  and  Joseph  Galloway.  As  a  result, 
on  March  29,  1766,  the  "Articles  of  Agreement"  375  for 
the  first  Illinois  Company  were  drawn  up  and  signed 

374  Croghan's  Journal,  in  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  25,  32,  33,  34;  Croghan  to 
Franklin,  Feb.  25,  1766,  in  C.  O.,  5:  66,  p.  80;  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Dec. 
27>  1765,  in  C.  O.,  5:  66,  p.  76. 

375  Found  in  the  Manuscript  Division,  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa. 


264       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

by  all  of  these  men.  Croghan  also  signed  for  Johnson. 
Benjamin  Franklin,  who  had  great  influence  in  Lon- 
don, was  invited  to  become  a  member  and  was  given 
the  right  to  add  the  names  of  two  or  three  influential 
Englishmen.  The  original  purpose  was  to  apply  for  a 
royal  grant  of  1,200,000  acres  in  the  Illinois  country, 
but  the  establishment  of  a  colony  here  of  which  these 
men  should  be  proprietors  was  also  considered.  The 
fact  that  Johnson  and  Benjamin  Franklin  were  mem- 
bers was  kept  secret. 

All  the  members  whose  names  had  been  made  public 
now  drew  up  a  memorial  to  Johnson  requesting  his 
approbation.  This  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  write 
Conway  and  to  support  the  project  with  his  great  in- 
fluence. Benjamin  Franklin  at  once  heartily  sup- 
ported the  scheme.  He  saw  Lord  Shelburne  and  left 
with  him  Croghan's  two  long  letters  and  his  journal, 
together  with  two  letters  from  William  Franklin  and 
a  copy  of  Evan's  Map  of  the  Middle  Colonies  with 
the  proposed  colony  marked  off  in  red.  It  extended 
from  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Ohio  and  from  the  Wabash 
to  the  Mississippi.  Much  depended  upon  Johnson's 
recommendation  and  upon  Croghan's  second  mission. 
Franklin  later  dined  with  Conway  and  Shelburne  and 
had  the  opportunity  of  presenting  the  matter  in  detail. 
Conway  and  Shelburne  favored  the  project,  but  the 
Board  of  Trade  could  not  be  brought  to  recommend 
it.  Factional  politics  in  England  in  1767  and  1768 
caused  such  rapid  changes  in  the  ministry  that  Frank- 
lin's efforts  were  fruitless.  By  1768,  the  project  had 
to  be  given  up  because  the  ministry  had  definitely 
decided  against  the  establishment  of  detached  colonies 
in  the  interior,  and  in  favor  of  moving  the  Indian 
boundary  line  westward.     Croghan  and  his  associates 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  265 

now  shifted  their  main  interest  to  the  upper  Ohio 
valley.376 

Here  the  losses  of  the  "Suff'ring  Traders"  provided 
a  convenient  basis  for  seeking  a  land  grant.  When 
Pontiac's  uprising  broke  out,  many  traders  who  were 
scattered  throughout  the  woods  were  massacred  or  taken 
captive  and  their  goods  seized.  These  goods  had  often 
been  furnished  on  credit  by  eastern  merchants.  The 
two  largest  losers  were  the  firms,  Baynton  and  Wharton 
and  Simon,  Trent,  Levy,  and  Franks.  It  was  therefore 
natural  that  Samuel  Wharton  and  William  Trent 
should  assume  leadership  in  trying  to  secure  restitution. 
Croghan,  because  of  his  intimate  relations  with  these 
men  and  because  of  the  desire  to  recoup  his  own  losses 
of  £4,500  in  the  uprising,  assisted  them  as  the  third 
leader.  Wharton  and  Trent  at  once  presented  a  mem- 
orial to  Amherst  in  New  York.  His  sympathetic  atti- 
tude encouraged  them  to  attempt  to  secure  payment  of 
their  claims  by  England.377 

In  December,  1763,  Croghan,  Trent,  Wharton,  Rob- 
ert Callender,  Jeremiah  Warder,  Thomas  McKee, 
David  Franks,  and  five  other  traders  and  merchants 
met  at  Indian  Queen  Tavern,  Philadelphia,  to  form 
plans  for  securing  restitution  from  England.  These 
plans  were  made  at  this  time  because  Croghan  was 
about  to  leave  for  London.  After  many  meetings  and 
committee  reports  a  majority  agreed  to  engage  Cro- 
ghan and  Moses  Franks,  a  merchant  in  London,  as 
agents;  £210  sterling  was  raised  for  their  expenses  and 
they  were  guaranteed  ten  per  cent  of  all  money  or 
land  which  might  be  secured.     They  were  to  present 

376  Franklin's  Works  (ed.  Smyth),  V,  45.  The  above  account  of  Cro- 
ghan's  relation  to  the  Illinois  Company  is  based  largely  upon  the  docu- 
ments found  in  the  ///.  Hist.  Coll.,  xi,  198-574,  passim. 

377  Prov.  Pap.,  xxx,  90-1 10,  passim. 


266       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

a  memorial  in  person  to  the  Board  of  Trade  in  behalf 
of  the  traders  and  merchants  who  had  incurred  losses 
in  1754  or  in  1763.  They  sought  the  aid  of  Generals 
Amherst,  Gage  and  Monckton,  Colonel  Bouquet,  the 
governor,  assembly  and  London  agent  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  Penns,  Lord  Halifax,  and  of  all  their  correspond- 
ents in  England,  particularly  those  merchants  who  had 
extended  credits  for  the  goods  lost  and  who  might  bring 
pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Board  of  Trade  or  the  Privy 
Council.  In  spite  of  all  efforts,  the  attempt  to  secure 
restitution  in  money  failed.378 

Upon  Croghan's  return,  it  was  decided  as  a  last 
resort  to  try  to  secure  restitution  through  a  land  grant 
from  the  Six  Nations.  Johnson,  however,  refused  to 
demand  from  these  tribes  a  grant  for  depredations 
committed  by  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  in 
1754,  and  thus  forced  a  separation  of  the  two  groups. 
The  plans  for  the  organization  of  the  "Suff'ring 
Traders'7  of  1763  were  drawn  up  before  Croghan  left 
for  the  Illinois  country  in  1765.  The  grant  they  sought 
became  known  as  "Indiana"  and  those  who  sought  it 
as  the  "Indiana  Company".  This  company  was  finally 
composed  of  twenty-three  merchants  and  traders 379 
with  total  claims  amounting  to  £85,916,  16s.  8d.     Each 

378  The  Minutes  of  the  Philadelphia  meeting,  Instructions  to  Croghan  and 
Franks,  and  the  Memorial  are  found  in  the  Johnson  mss.,  xxiv,  190-191. 
See  also  Bd.  of  Tr.  Journal,  lxxii,  259.  The  following  incident  is  illumina- 
ting: Dartmouth,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  was  a  religious  man 
influenced  by  the  evangelistic  movement  of  Wesley  and  Whitfield.  Wharton 
sent  a  copy  of  the  memorial  to  Whitfield,  referred  him  to  Franklin,  and 
asked  for  his  intercession  with  Dartmouth. -//w/  MSS.  Commission  of  Gt. 
Br.,  Fourteenth  Report,  Appendix  x,  u,  ax,  74. 

379  They  were  Robert  Callender,  David  Franks,  Joseph  Simon,  William 
Trent,  Levi  A.  Levy,  Philip  Boyle,  John  Baynton,  George  Morgan,  Joseph 
Spear,  Thomas  Smallman,  Samuel  Wharton,  John  Welsh,  Edmund  Moran, 
Evan  Shelby,  Samuel  Postlethwait,  John  Gibson,  Richard  Winston,  Dennis 
Crohon,  William  Thompson,  Abraham  Mitchell,  James  Dundass,  Thomas 
Dundass,  and  John  Ormsby. 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  267 

member's  interest  in  the  company  was  proportionate  to 
his  claim.  The  Jewish  firm  of  Simon,  Trent,  Levy, 
and  Franks  and  the  Quaker  firm  of  Baynton,  Wharton, 
and  Morgan  controlled  a  majority  of  the  shares.  In 
1765  and  1766,  Trent,  assisted  by  Wharton  and  Callen- 
der,  secured  from  each  member  a  detailed  affidavit  of 
his  losses  and  the  power  of  attorney  to  act  for  him.380 

Croghan  and  Governor  Franklin  were  also  members 
of  the  Indiana  Company  from  the  very  beginning,  but 
this  fact  was  kept  secret.  Croghan  held  1,125  shares 
in  his  own  name  and  774  shares  which  Thomas  Small- 
man  had  assigned  to  him.  Croghan  astutely  kept  in 
the  background  and  worked  through  Trent.  At  var- 
ious times  from  1766  to  1769,  he  loaned  Trent  £1,319, 
1 6s.  to  meet  necessary  expenses  and  to  assist  Trent  per- 
sonally, he  made  him  a  further  loan  of  £1,500  secured 
by  mortgages  on  Trent's  Pennsylvania  lands.381 

Meanwhile,  Croghan  and  Johnson  were  laboring 
with  the  Indians  in  private  and  in  public  conferences. 
At  Johnson  Hall  in  1765,  the  Delawares,  Shawnee, 
and  Mingoes  agreed  to  make  restitution  in  lands  to  the 
traders  whom  they  had  attacked.  Johnson  reported 
this  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Croghan  informed 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  asked  his  support.382 

In  1768,  when  the  news  came  that  Johnson  had  re- 

380  Lancaster  Co.  Hist.  Soc.  Papers,  ix,  ioff. ;   Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,   15,   16, 

40-43,  5i. 

381  Thomas  Wharton's  Indiana  Co.  mss.  ;  Croghan-Trent  Accounts,  in 
McAllister  Coll.,  7309,  Fio;  Croghan-Trent  Accounts,  Dec.  26,  1772,  in  the 
library  of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa. 

382  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vii,  724!?.;  Croghan  to  Franklin,  Feb.  25,  1766,  in 
C.  O.,  5:  66  p.  80.  It  is  self-evident  that  Franklin  was  not  thinking  solely 
of  the  Stamp  Act  affair  in  1765  and  1766.  A  somewhat  similar  scheme 
worked  out  successfully  in  the  Southern  District.  Here  traders  and  land 
speculators  persuaded  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  at  a  conference  at  Augusta 
in  1773,  to  cede  a  tract  of  land  to  the  King  to  be  sold  by  him  to  pay  their 
debts  to  the  traders. -Wharton:    Plain  Facts,  64. 


268       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ceived  orders  to  negotiate  a  new  Indian  boundary  line, 
Wharton  and  Trent  at  once  acted.  June  found  John- 
son at  the  seaside  in  Connecticut  for  his  health  and 
thither  they  went.383  Croghan  was  also  there  and  to- 
gether they  laid  plans  for  securing  a  land  grant.  Much 
of  the  summer  and  autumn  was  spent  by  these  men 
among  the  Iroquois  in  New  York.  Later,  Governor 
Franklin  came  as  the  official  representative  of  New 
Jersey  and  doubtless  assisted  them.  Presents  were 
effectively  used  with  the  chiefs.  As  a  result,  two  days 
before  the  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix,  a  deed  was  drawn 
up  ceding  to  the  King,  but  in  trust  for  the  "SufFring 
Traders",  about  2,500,000  acres  bounded  by  the  par- 
allel marking  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania, 
by  the  Ohio,  the  Little  Kanawha  and  the  Mononga- 
hela,  and  by  a  somewhat  indefinite  line  on  the  south- 
east. The  tract  was  favorably  located  for  navigation 
and  for  early  settlement. 

The  Indiana  grant,  like  Croghan's  grant,  was  incor- 
porated into  the  final  treaty.  The  protest  of  the  Vir- 
ginia commissioners  went  unheeded,  but  augured  ill 
for  the  future.  After  the  treaty,  Trent  wrote  to  a 
friend:  "We  are  all  greatly  indebted  to  the  uncom- 
mon kindness  of  Sir  Wm  Johnson  and  Mr.  Croghan."  384 

383  Wharton  to  Franklin,  Dec.  2,  1768,  in  Franklin  mss.,  xlix,  77,  Samuel 
Wharton  to  Thomas  Wharton,  June  23,  1768,  in  Thomas  Wharton  mss. 
Samuel  Wharton  wrote  to  his  brother:  "I  have  not  had  Leisure  enough 
to  scarcely  write  to  my  wife.  .  .  I  ardently  sigh  for  Home'. -But  if  the 
Revolution  of  Our  Affairs,  depended  On  a  Seven  Year  Banishment  I  would 
relinquish  all  the  Endearments  of  the  Hymenial  State -And  acquiesce 
patiently  to  it. -This  However,  I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  There  will  be 
no  Occasion  for,-  as  I  have  a  moral  Certainty  of  suceeding  in  an  object - 
not  of  a  very  trivial  Nature."  Little  did  Wharton  and  Trent  realize  that 
"years  of  banishment"  were  ahead  of  them. 

384  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  53.  Johnson  in  his  official  report  stated  that  he 
believed  the  grant  was  freely  made  without  any  influence  being  brought 
to  bear,  certainly  none  through  him.  Some  shares  belonging  to  the  firm 
of  Baynton  and  Wharton  were  entrusted  to  Croghan  for  use  at  Fort  Stan- 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  269 

As  in  the  case  of  Croghan's  grant,  Hillsborough  was 
successful  in  preventing  royal  confirmation  when  the 
treaty  was  ratified.  The  hope  of  future  confirmation, 
however,  remained  and  it  was  soon  decided  that  Whar- 
ton and  Trent  should  proceed  to  London  to  attempt  to 
secure  such  confirmation.  A  small  inner  circle  of  five, 
Croghan  being  one,  signed  an  agreement  to  contribute  a 
large  sum  for  their  expenses.  Croghan's  share  for  the 
first  year  was  over  £300.385  The  efforts  of  a  few  unfor- 
tunate traders  and  merchants  to  secure  restitution  were 
thus  involving  ever  widening  circles  of  interests;  indi- 
vidual fortunes  were  becoming  inextricably  involved; 
none  foresaw  the  far-reaching  political  results  that 
were  entailed. 

Not  all  claimants  were  satisfied  with  the  plans  of 
Wharton  and  Trent.  Some  of  the  wealthy  merchants 
had  purchased  the  claims  of  traders  at  speculative 
prices,  much  as  Washington  was  buying  up  the  land 
bounty  claims  of  Virginia  soldiers.  There  were  of 
course  many  persons  who  had  suffered  losses  who  were 
not  included  in  the  Indiana  Company.  One  of  the 
heaviest  losers  who  was  not  included  was  Alexander 


wix.  He  offered  some  to  Guy  Johnson,  but  the  latter  thought  it  wise  not 
to  accept  them.  Croghan  returned  them  to  Wharton  in  order  that  he  might 
do  "the  needful"  with  them  in  England.  Wharton,  however,  took 
them  over  in  his  own  name.  Baynton,  disgusted  with  the  whole  matter 
wrote  to  Croghan:  "I  want  all  these  Matters  to  be  buried  in  total 
Oblivion."  After  Baynton's  death  George  Morgan  tried  to  secure  an 
accounting  of  these  shares  from  Croghan  and  Wharton. -Baynton  to 
Croghan,  Feb.  4,  1770  and  to  Abel  James,  Jan.  3,  1770,  in  Baynton's 
Private  Letter  Bk. ;  Morgan  to  Croghan  Aug.  7,  1773,  and  to  Wharton,  Dec. 
1,  1773,  in  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan's  Letter  Bk.  A. 

385  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  l,  56.  For  the  subsequent  activities  of  all  claimants 
see  pages  51-97,  passim,  and  11,  20.  While  Trent  was  in  England  his  wife 
and  five  children  lived  in  penury  in  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  Croghan  and 
the  Whartons  assisted  her  at  times.  In  the  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  1,  104,  there  is 
a  list  of  Wharton  and  Trent's  expenses  totaling  £8,600,  but  Croghan's 
name  is  not  given  among  the  contributors. 


270       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Lowrey.  When  he  threatened  to  make  trouble,  Cro- 
ghan,  Trent,  and  Wharton  quietly  agreed  to  purchase 
his  claim,  payment  to  be  made  after  royal  confirmation. 
Others,  who  were  not  placated,  referred  to  Trent  and 
his  associates  as  "a  certain  Junto  who  .  .  .  have 
lately  pursued  such  Indirect,  Fraudulent,  and  Selfish 
Schemes,  and  have  so  embarrassed  and  confounded  the 
whole  matter.  .  ."  386  Some  of  these  determined  to 
oppose  with  all  their  strength  the  plans  of  the  Indiana 
Company.  They  sent  a  memorial  to  the  King  in 
Council  asking  that  no  lands  be  granted  unless  all 
claims  for  losses  incurred  from  1750  to  1763  be  care- 
fully examined  and,  if  found  worthy,  included ;  it  also 
asked  that  the  interests  of  prospective  settlers  be  pro- 
tected from  scheming  speculators. 

Wharton  and  Trent  finally  arranged  to  make  some 
concessions  to  the  claimants  of  1754.  Trent  secured  a 
renewal  of  his  power  of  attorney  from  a  select  group 
in  which  Croghan  was  included.  Funds  were  again 
raised  and  Moses  Franks  of  New  York  was  sent  to 
present  a  memorial  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  This 
memorial  did  not  oppose  the  Indiana  grant,  but  asked 
for  a  similiar  grant.  Franks  presented  the  memorial 
in  1 77 1,  but  failed  to  secure  action  upon  it.387 

After  their  arrival  in  London,  Wharton  and  Trent 
also  encountered  competition  from  groups  and  com- 
panies from  Virginia  seeking  grants  in  which  influen- 
tial Englishmen  were  financially  interested.  Wharton 
and  Trent  soon  realized  that  if  they  followed  their 
original  plans  failure  was  foreordained.     To  overcome 

386  Adam  Hoops  and  William  Buchanan  to  General  Monckton,  Feb.  22, 
1769,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  ser.,  x,  605. 

387  Frank's  Memorial,  in  C.  O.,  5:  114,  p.  236;  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council, 
Colonial  Ser.,  1766-1783,  601 ;  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  June  9,  1769,  II, 
114,  p.  44. 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  27 1 

their  competitors  and  the  opposition  of  the  anti-expan- 
sionists they  organized  the  "Walpole  Company"  to  buy 
2,500,000  acres  on  the  Ohio.  Benjamin  Franklin 
actively  assisted  them  and  many  Englishmen  of  wealth 
and  official  position  were  included  as  members.  On 
December  27,  1769,  this  company  was  reorganized  as 
the  Grand  Ohio  Company.388  It  petitioned  for  the 
establishment  of  a  new  colony,  later  known  as  Van- 
dalia.  It  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Ohio  and 
by  the  southern  and  western  boundaries  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  east  by  an  irregular  line  in  the  Appala- 
chians, on  the  south  by  North  Carolina,  and  on  the 
west  by  the  Kentucky  River.  All  the  lands  in  this 
colony  were  to  be  purchased  from  the  government. 
The  establishment  of  such  a  colony  would  thus  sever 
Virginia's  direct  contact  with  the  West  and  the  plans 
of  the  planters  of  Virginia  to  exploit  this  vast  region 
would  be  wrecked. 

Most  of  the  seventy-two  shares  of  the  company  were 
distributed  among  Englishmen,  but  Croghan,  Johnson, 
the  two  Franklin's,  the  four  Wharton's,  and  Trent  were 
among    the    Americans    included.389      Croghan    was 

388  por  a  detailed  account  of  this  company  and  its  project  for  the 
establishment  of  Vandalia  during  the  years  1769  to  1774,  see  Alvord: 
Mississippi  Valley  in  British  Politics. 

389  Wharton's  old  partners,  Baynton  and  Morgan,  were  bitterly  dis- 
appointed because  he  did  not  include  them.  A  feud  resulted  which  was 
to  divide  the  Indiana  Company  into  hostile  groups.  Both  tried  to  secure 
Croghan's  support.  Morgan  felt  that  it  was  unjust  for  Wharton  to  be 
enjoying  the  festivities  of  London  society,  while  he  exposed  his  life  on 
dismal  ventures  in  the  Illinois  country.  He  blamed  Croghan  for  advising 
the  firm  to  enter  Illinois  and  wrote  to  him  asking  whether  he  did  not  deem 
himself  responsible  for  one-fourth  of  their  losses.  Morgan  also  wrote: 
"With  regard  to  that  contemptible  Wretch  Trent,  my  Treatment  of  him 
will  depend  on  your  Conduct;  for  of  himself  he  is  not  worth  giving  a 
Kick  in  the  Breech  to,  or  a  Pull  by  the  Nose."  Later,  Morgan  challenged 
Trent  to  a  duel.  To  Wharton  he  wrote:  "Mr.  Baynton  lies  at  the  point 
of   Death   and    attributes   the   Cause   to  your   ill   Usage   of   him".     He    also 


272       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

allotted  two  shares  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  Indian 
grants  made  at  Fort  Stanwix  to  him  and  to  the 
"SufFring  Traders"  should  be  located  within  the  new 
colony.  In  order  to  placate  opposition,  provision  was 
also  made  for  the  Ohio  Company  of  Virginia,  for 
Virginia  soldiers  who  had  been  promised  land  bounties 
in  1754  by  Governor  Dinwiddie,  and  for  pioneers 
already  settled  within  the  proposed  colony.  Croghan 
became  enthusiastic  as  news  kept  coming  from  London ; 
in  a  letter  to  Johnson  he  said :  "By  the  best  accounts 
I  can  larn  the  limits  of  the  new  grant  will  contain 
thirty  od  millians  of  acrs  and  the  offise  will  open  att 
f  10  Sterling  per  hundred  and  a  half  penny  per  ar  quit- 
rent  which  will  make  a  handsome  division  to  the  72."  390 
After  the  new  company's  plans  were  formulated  an 
enormous  amount  of  influence  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  ministry  and  court  under  the  skillful  general- 
ship of  Wharton.  This  cost  the  members  approxi- 
mately £20,000.  The  opposition  of  men  who  favored 
the  Virginia  group,  particularly  Lord  Hillsborough, 
president  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  delayed  action  in 
1770  and  1 77 1,  but  finally  Wharton's  manoeuvers 
forced  Hillsborough's  resignation  in  1772.  On  Aug- 
ust 14,  his  successor,  Lord  Dartmouth,  was  ordered  by 
the  Privy  Council  to  prepare  detailed  plans  for  the 
establishment  of  the  new  colony.  On  September  2, 
orders  were  dispatched  to  Johnson  and  Stuart  to  notify 
and  prepare  the  Indians  for  its  establishment.  Further 
ominous  delays  ensued,  but  in  1773  the  Privy  Council 
decisively  ordered  the  attorney-general  and  the  solici- 

accused  Wharton  of  sacrificing  his  firm  to  become  governor  of  Vandalia 
so  that  his  enemies  would  "fall  down  and  worship  the  rising  Sun".  -  Entries 
for  1772-1774  in  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan's  Letter  Bk.  A. 

390  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Dec.  24,  1772,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xxv,  188. 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  273 

tor-general  to  draw  up  the  charter  to  be  passed  under 
the  great  seal  of  Great  Britain. 

During  the  years  1769  to  1773,  many  Americans 
manifested  as  much  interest  in  the  developments  assoc- 
iated with  Vandalia  as  in  the  Townshend  Acts  or  the 
Boston  Massacre.  In  spite  of  friction  between  Eng- 
land and  America  few  dreamed  of  separation.  Hence, 
to  those  whose  interests  were  concerned,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  colony  over-shadowed  other  portending 
events.  Both  reliable  news  and  all  rumors  from  Lon- 
don concerning  Vandalia  were  received  with  the  utmost 
avidity.  Perhaps  no  individual  had  relatively  more 
at  stake  than  did  Croghan.  To  raise  his  share  of  the 
expenses  involved  he  had  mortgaged  much  of  his  prop- 
erty; success  would  insure  to  him  a  legal  title  to  his 
200,000  acre  Indian  grant  near  Pittsburg  and  to  his 
share  of  the  trader's  grant,  as  well  as  a  further  interest 
in  all  the  lands  included  in  the  new  colony  and  the 
probability  of  a  lucrative  office  in  its  government.  Of 
the  Virginia  group  probably  none  followed  develop- 
ments with  a  keener  interest  than  George  Washington. 
His  plans  to  secure  thousands  of  acres  of  new  lands 
within  the  proposed  limits  of  Vandalia  were  in  jeop- 
ardy. He  wrote  Governor  Botetourt  on  October  5, 
1770,  that  the  granting  of  a  charter  for  Vandalia  "will 
give  a  fatal  blow,  in  my  humble  opinion,  to  the  inter- 
ests of  this  country."  Such  were  some  of  the  reactions 
in  America  of  the  conflict  over  Vandalia  in  London 
during  these  years. 

The  prospects  for  the  establishment  of  the  new  col- 
ony increased  year  by  year  from  1770  to  1773.  Soon 
there  promised  to  be  available  all  the  offices  needed  in  a 
colony  and  place  hunters  began  to  plan  to  secure  them. 
"I  flatter  myself  you  will  not  forget  us  among  your  old 


274       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

friends  if  anything  should  offer",  wrote  Barnard  Gratz 
to  Croghan.391  Washington  sought  Croghan's  influence 
to  secure  a  position  as  surveyor  for  William  Crawford, 
his  land  agent  on  the  Ohio.392  Croghan,  himself,  ex- 
pected a  major  office.  Washington  also  began  negotia- 
tions to  purchase  Croghan's  two  shares  in  the  Grand 
Ohio  Company.  "My  last  Leters  from  England  was 
the  5th  of  June  wh  Leves  No  Doubt  butt  the  New 
Charter  Government  wold  be  Confirm4  in  Some  Days 
after",  wrote  Croghan  to  Washington  on  August  18, 
1 77 1.  On  December  6,  in  a  letter  to  Crawford,  Wash- 
ington said :  "I  believe,  from  what  I  have  lately 
heard,  that  there  is  no  doubt  now  of  the  charter  gov- 
ernment taking  place  on  the  Ohio;  but  upon  what 
terms,  or  how  lands  will  be  granted  to  the  people,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  learn."  393  Making  the  best  of  the 
situation  he  instructed  his  agent,  Captain  Bullitt,  to 
locate  and  survey  10,000  acres  as  near  to  the  western 
boundary  of  Vandalia  as  possible,  and  in  advertising 
for  sale  20,000  acres  on  the  Great  Kanawha,  Washing- 
ton took  pains  to  point  out  that  they  were  near  the 
probable  location  of  the  capital  of  Vandalia.394 

On  May  15,  1773,  William  Murray  wrote  to  the 
Gratzs  from  Pittsburg:  "I  was  yesterday  at  Mr. 
Croghan's  who  informed  me  That  the  New  Colony  was 

391  Byars:    B.  and  M.  Gratz,  134. 

392  Washington  to  Croghan,  Nov.  24,  1770,  in  Washington  MSS.,  xn,  1469; 
Croghan  to  Washington,  Aug.  18,  1771,  in  idem,  1558.  Robert  L.  Hooper, 
employed  by  Croghan  as  surveyor,  enlisted  the  influence  of  Croghan,  John- 
son, and  Franklin  for  securing  the  office  of  Surveyor-General. -Johnson 
mss.,  XX,  91.  Lord  Dartmouth  had  various  applicants  for  the  governorship, 
but  offered  it  to  Major  Legge,  his  relative,  at  £1,000  salary. -Hi st.  MSS. 
Commission  of  Gt.  Br.,  Eleventh  Report,  Appendix  v,  335,  and  Fourteenth 
Report,  Appendix  X,  vol.  11,  94,  95,  188. 

393  Croghan  to  Washington,  Aug.  18,  1771,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to 
Washington,  iv,  79 ;   Washington  to  Crawford,  Dec.   6,   1771,   in   Writings, 

«i   347- 

394  Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser,  Aug.  20,  1773. 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  275 

fixed,  Trent  immediately  expected  and  the  Governor 
to  be  over  in  June."  395  A  few  months  later,  Croghan 
was  assured  in  the  strongest  terms  by  the  promoters  in 
London  that  everything  was  settled  and  that  the  charter 
would  pass  the  seals  in  a  few  days.396  Croghan  made 
arrangements  to  grant  lands,  which  he  expected  would 
sell  at  £10  per  100  acres  as  fast  as  they  could  be  sur- 
veyed, and  he  planned  to  erect  houses  for  the  governor, 
chief-justice,  and  other  officials  at  Pittsburg,  which  was 
claimed  to  lie  12^  miles  outside  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  also  arranged  to  plant  seeds  imported  from  China 
-  two  kinds  of  indigo,  white  hemp,  two  kinds  of  Bohea 
tea,  etc.  -  to  see  whether  they  could  profitably  be  grown 
in  Vandalia. 

In  the  Spring  of  1773,  Samuel  Wharton  and  several 
other  associates  instructed  Croghan  to  invite  the  In- 
dians to  meet  the  new  governor  at  a  conference  to  be 
held  in  the  fall.  Croghan  was  informed  that  presents 
would  be  forwarded  from  England  for  the  occasion. 
In  response  to  his  invitation,  chiefs  from  seven 
different  nations  began  to  assemble  at  Pittsburg  in 
October,  and  by  December  four  hundred  Indians  were 
present.  But  Croghan  found  himself  in  a  predicament 
when  neither  governor  nor  presents  appeared.  There 
was  a  possibility  that  the  success  of  the  infant  colony 
would  be  prejudiced  and  that  Croghan's  personal  in- 
fluence with  the  Indians  would  be  seriously  under- 
mined. Moreover,  the  general  Indian  situation  was 
unfavorable  because  Virginians  were  going  down  the 
Ohio  and  settling  lands  which  the  Indians  had  been 
promised  would  not  be  settled ;  Gage  and  Johnson  were 
distributing  almost  no  presents;  the  Quaker  province 

395  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  102. 

396  Croghan  to  Thomas  Wharton,  Dec.  9,  1773,  in  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and 
Biog.,  xv,  437. 


276       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

was  giving  scarcely  any  attention  to  the  Indians;  and 
finally,  the  frontiersmen  were  still  murdering  Indians. 

Croghan  decided  to  act,  as  he  had  so  frequently  acted 
before  under  similar  circumstances,  trusting  that  the 
proprietors  of  the  new  colony  would  not  let  him  suffer 
personal  loss.  He  supplied  provisions  out  of  his  own 
private  stock;  on  October  15,  he  observed  that  the 
Indians  "are  Eating  up  everything  I  had  provided  for 
the  use  of  my  family  this  Winter."  The  inhabitants 
of  Pittsburg  became  alarmed  and  held  Croghan  re- 
sponsible for  the  situation  which  they  tried  to  ease  by 
donating  provisions  and  clothing.  Croghan  secured 
some  goods  for  presents  from  Joseph  Simon ;  and  finally, 
he  pawned  his  plate  and  other  valuables  to  purchase 
additional  provisions.  As  a  result  of  his  efforts,  the 
Indians  left  much  better  satisfied  than  anyone  had 
expected.  Croghan  was  partially  reimbursed,  but  as 
late  as  1775  he  was  still  trying  to  secure  repayment 
from  Trent,  Wharton,  and  the  English  noblemen.397 

The  year  1773  thus  saw  Croghan's  fortunes  at  their 
zenith.  Throughout  the  years  1768  to  1773  he  had 
brilliant  prospects  for  becoming  as  great  a  landowner 
as  Sir  William  Johnson,  Lord  Fairfax,  or  George 
Washington.  He  possessed  houses  and  lots  in  Phila- 
delphia, Bedford,  and  Pittsburg.  He  had  legal  title 
to  thousands  of  acres  of  choice  lands  in  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  on  the  settler's  frontier  where  the  west- 
ward migration  was  causing  land  values  to  rise  rapidly. 
He  had  excellent  prospects  for  securing  a  legal  title  to 

397  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv,  433-439,  and  xxxni,  320-322;  Craig, 
Ye  Olden  Time,  11,  9;  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  1,  33;  Ohio  Co.  mssv  ii,  6; 
Thomas  Wharton's  Letter  Bk.,  1773-1784.  Thomas  Walpole  sent  to  Lord 
Dartmouth  a  polished  and  somewhat  garbled  copy  of  one  of  Croghan's 
letters  describing  the  Indian  situation  and  urging  action.  -  Hist.  MSS. 
Commission  of  Gt.  Br.,  Eleventh  Report,  Appendix  v,  360. 


RELATIONS  TO  GREAT  LAND  COMPANIES  277 

his  200,000  acre  Indian  grant  on  the  Ohio,  as  well  as  to 
his  share  of  the  Indiana  grant  of  2,500,000  acres. 
Most  promising  of  all,  however,  was  the  apparent  cer- 
tainty of  the  establishment  of  the  new  colony  of 
Vandalia  containing  over  20,000,000  acres  in  which 
Croghan  had  a  proprietary  share  and  where,  as  the 
western  representative  of  the  Grand  Ohio  Company, 
he  was  certain  to  have  large  political  influence. 


Business  Activities;  Sale  of  New  York  and 
Ohio  Lands 

The  belief  in  the  certainty  of  the  establishment  of 
Vandalia  was  of  fundamental  importance  in  Croghan's 
business  activities.  His  land  projects  all  required  a 
large  amount  of  liquid  capital.  He  had  his  share  of 
the  heavy  expenses  entailed  in  organizing  the  Indiana 
Company,  in  securing  the  grant  of  "Indiana"  from  the 
Indians,  and  in  seeking  a  charter  for  Vandalia.  Pat- 
enting his  Pennsylvania  lands  required  money.  Pur- 
chasing the  Indian  title  to  his  Otsego  tract  in  New 
York  cost  about  £6  per  1,000  acres;  surveying  and  pat- 
enting it  cost  about  £30  per  1,000  acres -a  total  of 
£3,600.  His  improvements  upon  it  and  his  adjacent 
purchases  caused  the  initial  cost  of  his  New  York  lands 
to  approximate  £10,000.  To  market  these  lands  re- 
quired additional  capital. 

The  fact  that  Croghan  had  no  money  and  that  he 
was  deeply  in  debt  did  not  deter  him  in  the  least.  His 
implicit  faith  in  the  future  greatness  of  the  West  con- 
vinced him  that  he  was  making  fortunes  both  for  him- 
self and  for  all  those  concerned  with  him.  Part  of 
this  enthusiastic  conviction  he  imparted  to  his  creditors. 
He  practiced  a  system  of  finance  very  much  like  that 
which  was  used  to  build  railroads  in  the  West  after  the 
Civil  War;  he  "bonded"  his  great  ideas  when  he  could 
and  mortgaged  any  property  which  represented  them, 
in  order  to  secure  capital  for  further  "development". 


280       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

To  illustrate:  on  December  12,  1768,  he  paid  the  £500 
mortgage  held  by  Thomas  Wharton  on  three  houses 
and  four  acres  of  land  in  Philadelphia;  the  next  day 
he  purchased  fourteen  acres  of  adjacent  land  and  on 
the  same  day  he  mortgaged  the  entire  property  for 
£1,200  to  Governor  Franklin.398  At  the  same  time 
that  many  of  his  lands  were  being  sold  by  sheriffs  to 
pay  his  debts,  he  was  pawning  personal  property  at 
Pittsburg  in  order  to  further  the  interests  of  Vandalia 
and  using  some  of  his  own  ready  money  and  borrow- 
ing in  Virginia  to  make  an  Indian  purchase  of  6,000,- 
000  acres  on  the  Ohio,  and  only  regretted  that  he  did 
not  have  more  capital  at  his  command  so  that  he  could 
purchase  more  land.  ".  .  .  could  I  get  Money  on 
Interest  at  Ten  p  cent  I  should  make  thirty  p  cent  by 
keeping  my  Lands  but  three  years",  he  wrote  to 
Thomas  Wharton  on  June  21,  1769.399  Croghan  was 
not  dishonest.  He  usually  met  all  his  just  debts,  but 
he  did  so  very  tardily.  Creditors  learned  to  watch  the 
times  when  he  received  money  in  order  to  collect  before 
he  could  invest  it  again  in  lands. 

Before  1768,  Croghan's  eastern  factors  had  been 
Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan.  Later,  his  eastern 
factors  were  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz,  Jewish  mer- 
chants in  Lancaster  and  Philadelphia;  they  were  to 
remain  his  trusted  bankers,  faithful  legal  agents,  and 
intimate  friends  till  his  death.  They  drew  up  and  kept 
his  legal  documents;  through  them  his  bills  and  debts 
were  paid;  they  made  long  journeys  and  spent  much 
time  in  serving  as  his  land  agents;  they  loaned  him 
money  at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest  when  he  needed 

398  Legal  Memorandum,  in  McAllister  Coll.,  7309,  no. 

399  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xv,  431.  Compare  Byars,  William  V.: 
"The  Proprietors  of  Indiana  as  Pioneers  of  the  Continental  United  States," 
in  Gratz  Pap.,   1st  ser.,  vn,  106-136. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  28 1 

it  and  as  a  result,  he  was  nearly  always  in  debt  to  them 
for  several  thousand  pounds;  from  1768  to  1773,  the 
total  of  their  loans  amounted  to  £16,000;  they  also  re- 
ceived and  forwarded  much  of  his  mail;  to  satisfy  his 
personal  wants  on  the  frontier  they  shipped  to  him 
salt,  sugar,  spices,  salt  fish,  fine  liquors,  clothing,  hats, 
bridles,  paper,  and  glass;  and  finally,  they  continually 
filled  his  orders  for  Indian  goods.  In  return  for  these 
services,  Croghan  aided  them  in  their  land  operations 
and  in  their  trading  relations  with  the  Indians;  he 
usually  paid  them  by  conveying  to  them  large  tracts 
of  his  lands.400 

Croghan  secured  his  capital  in  such  centers  as  New 
York,  Albany,  Philadelphia,  Lancaster,  and  Burling- 
ton. His  old  friends  and  associates,  such  as  Joseph, 
Thomas  and  Charles  Wharton,  Governor  Franklin, 
Richard  Peters,  and  the  Gratzs,  advanced  him  large 
sums.  The  Coldens  and  Goldsborrow  Banyer  of  New 
York,  William  Peters,  John  Morton,  and  Dr.  John 
Morgan  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  group  of  eight  invest- 
ors from  Burlington  known  as  the  "Burlington  Com- 
pany", were  more  exacting  in  their  loans.  Governor 
Franklin,  in  1768,  aided  Croghan  to  secure  from  this 
company  a  loan  of  £3,000  for  three  years  to  enable  him 
to  patent  his  Otsego  tract  in  New  York;  in  return,  Cro- 
ghan sold  at  cost  to  Franklin  and  some  associates  his 
Indian  purchase,  "Otego",  located  southwest  of  the 
Otsego  tract.  When  this  proved  to  be  too  small  to 
give  Franklin  the  amount  guaranteed  to  him,  Croghan 
conveyed  to  him  51,000  acres  out  of  his  adjacent  Otsego 
and  Butler  holdings.  The  Burlington  Company  re- 
fused to  deal  with  Croghan  except  through  Franklin. 

400  These  generalizations  concerning  the  relations  of  Croghan  to  the 
Gratzs  are  based  chiefly  upon  documents  in  the  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  Ohio 
Co.  mss.,  and  in  Michael  Gratz's  Letter  Book. 


282       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

On  December  13,  1768,  Croghan  therefore  temporarily 
mortgaged  his  Otsego  Indian  purchase  to  Franklin  and 
then  took  out  his  patent  to  it.  After  this  was  done  he 
mortgaged  to  Franklin  his  houses  and  eighteen  acres 
of  land  near  Philadelphia  and  also  40,000  acres  of  his 
Otsego  tract.  Franklin  then  assigned  these  mortgages 
to  the  company  and,  as  additional  security,  he  gave  his 
personal  bond  to  cover  the  loan.  This  was  to  cost  him 
dearly  in  later  years.  Richard  Peters,  who  had  long 
been  trying  to  secure  from  Croghan  the  payment  of  a 
debt,  was  quietly  informed  by  one  of  the  members  of 
the  company  when  the  money  was  paid  and  so  secured 
part  of  the  £3,000  which  Croghan  had  planned  to  use 
in  New  York.  Croghan's  various  loans  from  1767  to 
1770  totaled  approximately  £15,000  and  were  secured 
by  bonds  and  mortgages  based  chiefly  upon  his  New 
York  lands.  Unfortunately,  nearly  all  of  these  debts 
fell  due  within  from  one  to  three  years,  during  which 
period  he  expected  that  the  Indiana  and  Vandalia 
projects  would  materialize.401 

The  wide  extent  of  Croghan's  investments  in  1769 
and  1770,  the  failure  of  some  expected  funds  to  come 
in,  particularly  certain  large  sums  owed  by  John  and 

401  Information  from  R.  Wells,  etc.  and  Franklin's  Affidavit,  1811,  in 
the  Wm.  Temple  Franklin  mss.  ;  Mortgage  Bk.,  in,  66fF.,  Clerk's  Office, 
Albany  Co.;  N.Y.  Council  Minutes,  xxix,  13,  343;  N.Y.  Land  Pap.,  xxv, 
97.  The  10  shares  of  the  Burlington  Company  were  originally  distributed 
as  follows: 

Richard   Wells   3  shares     £900 

Dr.  Moore  1  share         300 

Henry   Hill   1  share         300 

James  Veree  1  share         300 

Joseph   Fox   1  share  300 

Abigail  Smith  (Mrs.  Geo.  Browne)  1  share         300 

Joseph  Smith  1  share  300 

Richard    Smith   1  share         300 

The  name  "Burlington  Company"  was  also  applied  to  the  owners  of  the 
Otego  patent  of  69,000  acres. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  283 

Thomas  Shipboy,  merchants  in  New  York,  together 
with  the  slow  progress  of  the  Indiana  and  Vandalia  pro- 
jects in  London,  soon  showed  how  Croghan  was  strain- 
ing his  resources.  On  November  30,  1769,  he  wrote 
to  his  old  partner,  William  Trent:  ".  .  .  the  only 
Method  [which]  is  Left  to  Save  my  Estate  hear  and 
yr  own  [which]  is  Morgidgd  to  the  Burlington  Com- 
pany is  to  Sell  my  Grants  or  mortgidge  them  in  Eng- 
land .  .  ."  At  this  time  Croghan  intended  to  sell 
all  his  lands  in  Pennsylvania  together  with  his  interests 
in  the  Indiana  and  Vandalia  projects,  keeping  his  New 
York  lands  to  the  last.  ".  .  .  if  this  Cant  be  Don", 
continued  Croghan,  "all  that  you  and  I  have  in  this 
part  of  the  World  is  Intierly  gon  and  our  Ruin  Com- 
pletely finished  .  .  ." 402  On  February  20,  1770, 
John  Baynton  wrote  to  his  partner,  Samuel  Wharton 
concerning  Croghan:  ".  .  .  his  present  Embar- 
rassments, are  as  great  and  pressing  as  they  have  been 
for  many  years  past.  [1754-1756]  I  heartily  wish  he 
may  retain  as  many  of  them  as  may  in  a  few  years 
hence,  sell  for  as  much  as  may  enable  him,  to  live  ac- 
cording to  the  Elegance  of  his  Desires  and  the  Noble- 
ness of  his  disposition."  403 

During  the  year  1770,  Croghan  sold  approximately 
152,000  acres  out  of  his  250,000  acres  in  New  York. 
He  sold  the  Skinner  patent  of  40,000  acres,  the  Butler 
patent  of  47,000  acres,  and  65,000  acres  out  of  his  Ot- 
sego tract.  For  these  he  received  nearly  £10,000. 
His  purchasers  were  usually  his  creditors  or  his 
friends;  Governor  Franklin,  Governor  Colden,  David 
Colden,  Stephen  Skinner,  Prevost,  Michael  Gratz,  V. 
P.  Dow,  L.  Moore,  and  the  Whartons  were  the  chief 

402  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  1,  18;  Johnson  mss.,  xviii,  231. 
403Baynton's  Private  Letter  Bk. 


284       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

purchasers.  Although  Croghan  had  held  these  lands 
less  than  a  year  and  had  sold  them  under  unfavorable 
circumstances,  he  nevertheless  realized  a  large  profit. 
Though  he  was  still  heavily  in  debt,  he  hoped  to  post- 
pone foreclosure  on  his  remaining  100,000  acres  in 
New  York  until  Vandalia  was  established.  To  it  he 
pinned  all  his  hopes,  for  its  establishment  would  enable 
him  to  pay  of!  all  his  debts  and  mortgages.  So  prom- 
ising was  the  outlook  for  Vandalia  that  most  of  his 
creditors  were  willing  to  wait  until  1772;  some,  like 
Dr.  John  Morgan,  demanded  payment  of  their  bonds 
on  the  exact  day  when  they  were  due  and  a  few,  like 
the  Burlington  Company,  desired  to  take  advantage  of 
his  plight  in  order  to  secure  his  lands  at  a  low  price  at 
a  forced  sale.  Those  who  held  second  mortgages 
favored  postponement,  at  least  until  the  lands  could  be 
sold  privately.404 

To  meet  this  situation,  Croghan,  in  1772,  gave  Bar- 
nard Gratz  full  power  of  attorney  to  act  as  his  agent. 
He  wrote  to  Gratz:  "I  am  anxious  to  pay  Every 
person  as  Soon  as  I  can.  .  ." 405  "I  am  Determined 
to  Sell  all  the  Lands  I  have  in  New  York  Government 
and  rely  on  you  to  Do  itt."  406  Gratz  met  the  chief 
creditors  and  they  agreed  to  postpone  foreclosure  until 
September  1,  1773,  to  enable  him  to  sell  Croghan's 
lands  privately.  Gratz  advertised  them  and  then 
journeyed  to  Albany,  Schenectady,  Johnstown,  and 
Kinderhook  to  meet  prospective  purchasers.     Croghan 

404  Bk.  of  Deeds  (Sec.  of  State,  Albany),  xvm,  281-285,  293-297,  ST1^81 ; 
XIX,  20-31;  XXX,  353-355;  Deed  Bk.  (Clerk's  Office,  Albany  Co.),  vm,  182- 
189,  459-461;  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  i,  83;  ii,  100;  Baynton  to  Croghan,  Jan.  20 
and  Feb.  4,  1770,  in  Baynton's  Private  Letter  Bk. ;  George  Morgan  to 
Croghan,  Aug.  5,  1772,  in  Letter  Bk.  A,  of  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan. 

405  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  July  7,  1772,  in  Gratz-Croghan  MSS.,  I,  29; 
idem,  32. 

406  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Aug.  26,  1772,  in  Simon  Gratz  Coll. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  285 

eagerly  awaited  the  outcome.  "I  hope  he  will  be  able 
to  make  Some  Sals  if  Not  all,  to  Liten  my  Burden", 
Croghan  wrote  to  Michael  Gratz  on  July  29,  1773.407 
No  purchasers  appeared,  however,  to  offer  the  mini- 
mum price  agreed  upon. 

When  Gratz  returned  he  met  the  creditors  and  asked 
for  another  year  in  which  to  advertise  and  sell  the 
lands,  but  was  refused.  It  was,  however,  agreed  that 
the  lands  should  first  be  surveyed  into  1,000  acre  tracts 
before  being  offered  for  sale  by  the  sheriff.408  Croghan 
felt  happy  when  he  heard  of  this  and  he  instructed 
Gratz  to  delay  matters  as  long  as  the  New  York  law 
would  allow,  for  the  prospects  for  Vandalia  were  so 
bright  that  he  felt  sure  that  it  would  be  established 
before  the  sale  could  be  arranged.  On  September  8, 
1773,  he  wrote  to  Gratz:  ".  .  .  for  if  Mr.  Whar- 
ton should  sail  from  England  in  July  as  I  have  the 
Greatest  assurance  he  was,  ...  I  am  Certain  in 
a  mounth  after  his  ariveal  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  peters 
of,  the  Mordiges  Likewise,  and  protected  bills  as  he 
and  Trent  is  fully  prepaird  to  Do  itt,  this  with  what  I 
can  sell  hear,  on  the  Governts  being  Establish*  will 
before  Crismas  Make  me  a  free  man.  .  ." 409  Soon 
this  feeling  of  assurance  was  changed  to  such  a  strong 
feeling  of  anxiety  among  those  most  interested  that 
Thomas  Wharton  stated  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Eng- 
land:  "I  hope  the  Vandalia  Affairs  are  settled,  and 
that  a  Matter  of  so  great  Consequence  is  no  longer 
hanging  by  the  Eyelids."  410 

407  Croghan  to  M.  Gratz,  July  29,  1773,  in  Simon  Gratz  Coll.  See  also, 
Ohio  Co.  mss.,  I,  87,  93,  103. 

408  B.  Gratz  to  Croghan,  Aug.  1,  1773,  in  McAllister  Coll. 

409  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Sept.  8,  1773,  in  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  i,  33. 

410  Wharton  to  Thomas  Walpole,  Jan.  31,  1774,  in  Thomas  Wharton's 
Letter  Bk.,   1773-1784. 


286       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

The  turning  point  soon  came,  however.  The  pros- 
pects for  Vandalia  had  reached  their  zenith  in  1773 
and  declined  so  rapidly  that  by  the  end  of  that  year  it 
was  reported  even  at  Pittsburg  that  the  new  colony 
would  not  be  established.  In  a  letter  written  at  Pitts- 
burg on  June  7,  1774,  to  Washington,  Dr.  John  Con- 
nolly said:  ".  .  .  the  great  Government  Scheme 
is  blown  over;  which  like  the  Mountain  in  labor  has 
bro't  forth  a  Mouse."411  To  Washington  and  his 
fellow  Virginia  land  speculators  it  meant  fortunes 
won;  but  to  a  large  group  of  men  including  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Governor  Franklin,  Samuel  Wharton,  Wil- 
liam Trent,  and  George  Croghan,  it  meant  the  loss  of 
fortunes,  almost  won.  By  1774,  Croghan  therefore 
ceased  all  efforts  to  delay  the  foreclosure  of  his  New 
York  lands  and  gave  up  his  plan  of  spending  his  last 
years  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Otsego.  One  can 
imagine  his  feelings  when,  on  September  24,  1774,  he 
wrote  to  Gratz:  "I  main  to  Sell  the  ottsego  Tract 
and  gett  Don  with  that  part  of  the  Country."  412  "He 
is  so  Exceedingly  Embarrassed",  wrote  Thomas  Whar- 
ton to  Samuel  Wharton,  "that  any  step  you  can  take  to 
throw  matters  fairly  in  his  way  will  be  useful  to  him." 

Gratz  again  journeyed  to  New  York  in  November, 
1774,  to  attend  the  sheriff's  sale.  He  hoped  to  save 
Croghan's  remaining  Otsego  lands  and  to  protect  the 
titles  of  the  lands  which  Croghan  had  conveyed  to 
others.  Unfortunately,  the  news  of  Sir  William  John- 
son's death  came  just  the  day  before  the  sale  and  this 
had  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  price  of  frontier  lands. 

411  Hamilton:    Letters  to  Washington,  v,  9. 

412  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  i,  38.  Prevost  wrote  Gratz  from  Jamaica  on 
November  22,  1774,  of  "those  Confounded  matters  to  the  Northward"  and 
prepared  to  be  ready  to  buy  his  6,061  acres  should  it  be  placed  on  sale, 
even  if  it  meant  selling  his  commission  in  the  army. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  287 

McKee's  patent  of  40,000  acres,  one  half  of  Belvedere 
consisting  of  9,000  acres,  and  the  1,893  acres  on  the 
Schoharie  were  sold  in  tracts  of  approximately  1,000 
acres  each.  These  50,893  acres  brought  £4,840  which 
was  sufficient  to  pay  William  Peters's  judgment  of 
£2,000  with  interest,  Banyer's  mortgage  of  £840,  and 
still  leave  £1,000  for  other  creditors.  Croghan  paid 
Gratz  £242  for  his  services  and  thanked  him.  Gratz 
felt  elated  over  the  outcome,  for  he  had  saved  not  only 
Croghan's  remaining  Otsego  lands  and  9,000  acres  in 
Belvedere,  but  also  the  9,050  acres  in  Butler's  patent 
which  Croghan  had  conveyed  to  him.  In  1774,  Cro- 
ghan had  his  remaining  Otsego  lands  surveyed  into 
twenty-nine  tracts  of  approximately  one  thousand  acres 
each.413 

In  April,  1775,  Croghan  entered  into  an  agreement 
whereby  his  Otsego  lands  were  to  be  sold  to  meet  Gov- 
ernor Franklin's  judgment  of  £3,000,  Morton's  judg- 
ment of  £5,000,  and  Thomas  Wharton's  mortgage  of 
£2,000.  He  again  instructed  Barnard  Gratz  to  sell 
these  lands  either  privately  or  through  a  sheriff.  Be- 
fore this  could  be  done,  events  which  Croghan  had  not 
foreseen,  were  taking  place  at  Lexington,  Concord,  and 
Bunker  Hill  which  saved  these  lands  for  a  few  more 
years  and  which  were  to  render  frontier  lands  in  New 
York  almost  unmarketable  for  a  number  of  years. 
The  border  warfare  with  the  Iroquois  during  the  Rev- 
olution postponed  the  rise  in  land  values  around  Lake 

413  B.  Gratz  to  M.  Gratz,  June  3,  1774  in  McAllister  Coll.;  Bk.  of  Deeds 
(Sec.  of  State,  Albany),  l,  163-168;  Peters  mss.,  VI,  86,  89;  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  I, 
103,  no,  in,  113,  and  11,  1,  26,  100;  Sheriff  White's  deed  to  Duryee  in  the 
library  of  the  N.Y.  Hist.  Soc.  White  proved  to  be  corrupt  and  was  later 
imprisoned.  M.  Gratz  wrote  to  his  brother  on  May  3,  1776:  ".  .  .  [I] 
would,  at  present,  not  Say  anything  about  it  to  Col.  Croghan  as  Can  do 
him  no  good,  but  Frett  him  for  he  Can  have  no  Satisfaction  by  Law.  .  ." 
-  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  ii,  21. 


288       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Otsego  and  Cherry  valley  until  after  1783.  Many  of 
the  New  York  patriots,  who  were  massacred  in  Cherry 
valley  or  who  helped  drive  back  the  Indians  and 
tories,  had  settled  on  the  frontier  largely  through  the 
direct  or  indirect  influence  of  Croghan.414 

In  addition  to  selling  most  of  his  New  York  lands, 
Croghan  mortgaged  Croghan  Hall  to  Joseph  Simon 
and  sold  some  of  his  Pennsylvania  lands.  He  also  sold 
1,125  shares  in  the  Indiana  Company  to  Joseph  Gal- 
loway, keeping  only  774  shares.  Of  the  lands  to  which 
these  774  shares  purported  to  give  title,  Croghan 
placed  on  sale  20,000  acres. 

The  other  large,  potential  asset  upon  which  Croghan 
tried  to  realize  during  the  critical  years,  1769  to  1775, 
consisted  of  his  200,000  acre  Indian  grant  on  the  Ohio. 
Until  royal  confirmation  should  be  specifically  refused, 
or  Vandalia's  establishment  rejected,  or  Pennsylvania's 
western  boundary  definitely  marked,  Croghan's  claim 
to  the  land  southwest  of  Pittsburg  could  not  be  over- 
thrown. His  Indian  title  and  his  improvements  gave 
him  a  strong  occupying  claimant's  preemptive  right. 
Until  1774,  the  strong  probability  of  the  establishment 
of  Vandalia  made  the  purchase  of  these  lands  a  good 
speculative  investment,  though  both  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia  were  also  disposing  of  the  same  lands. 

Before  offering  these  lands  for  sale,  Croghan  had 
them  surveyed  into  townships  and  then  into  rectilinear 
tracts,  1,000  acres  in  extent.  He  refused  to  accomo- 
date purchasers  by  surveying  irregular  tracts  to  include 
only  good  land,  as  was  the  custom  in  many  colonies. 
His  chief  surveyors  during  the  period   1770  to   1775 

414  Cooper,  James  Fenimore:  Chronicles  of  Cooperstown,  Chapter  i;  Pa. 
Gazette,  May  3,  1786;  Brant  mss.,  13  f  103,  1  F  24. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  289 

were  William  Thompson,  John  Campbell,  Robert 
Lettis  Hooper,  and  Dorsey  Pentecost. 

Disputes  soon  arose  as  to  the  location  of  the  south- 
western boundary  line  of  Croghan's  grant.  His  Indian 
deed  stated  it  to  be  a  straight  line  running  from  a  point 
ten  miles  up  Racoon  Creek  to  the  mouth  of  Thomp- 
son's run  on  the  Monongahela  opposite  Turtle  Creek. 
Did  this  mean  ten  miles  as  a  bird  flies  or  as  indicated 
by  the  meanders  of  Racoon  Creek?  What  was  to  be 
done  if  the  line  included  more  or  less  than  the  100,000 
acres  called  for  in  the  deed?  The  Indians  at  Fort 
Stanwix  had  stipulated  that  if  any  portion  of  their 
grant  fell  within  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania,  Croghan 
should  be  permitted  to  locate  an  equal  quantity  else- 
where in  their  cession.  Two  tracts  totaling  100,000 
acres  fell  within  Pennsylvania.  Should  the  boundary 
line  of  the  third  tract  be  shifted  to  compensate  for  this 
loss? 

The  legality  of  the  line  troubled  Croghan  but  little. 
His  first  surveyor,  Captain  Thompson,  ran  the  line  in 
accordance  with  the  deed,  but  when  Croghan  saw  the 
survey  he  said  it  was  not  run  right  and  employed 
Campbell  to  run  it.  When  Campbell  brought  in 
his  survey,  Croghan  remonstrated  that  they  should 
have  allowed  him  ten  degrees  for  the  variation 
of  the  compass.  He  then  instructed  Hooper  to  run 
the  line.  Hooper's  line  took  in  four  times  the  amount 
called  for  by  the  deed.  Finally,  Croghan  had  his  sur- 
veyors at  work  as  far  west  as  Wheeling  Creek  where 
others  stopped  their  work.  If  he  saw  some  excellent 
land  he  would  push  out  his  boundary  to  include  it. 
Captain  William  Crawford  reported  to  Washington 
for  whom  he  was  laying  out  claims  in  the  same  region : 


290       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

"I  have  not  told  him  where  the  Land  Lys  and  I  am 
Afraid  to  tell  him  till  he  Runs  the  Line  for  I  think  if 
he  new  of  it  he  would  run  it  in  one  purpose  to  have  the 
Seling  of  it  to  you.     .     ."  415 

The  land  which  Croghan  had  surveyed  was  hilly, 
but  the  soil  was  rich  and  mill  sites  were  plentiful.  His 
surveys  were  soon  cut  up  by  surveyors  laying  out  war- 
rants issued  by  the  Penns ;  and  both  of  these  sets  of  sur- 
veys were  cut  up  by  Virginia  surveyors.  To  add  to 
the  confusion  squatters  were  so  active  that  Crawford 
reported  to  Washington  in  1772 :  "There  will  be  [no] 
Posability  of  taking  up  such  a  Quantity  as  you  want 
near  Fort  pitt  as  there  is  such  numbers  of  People  out 
now  Looking  for  Land  and  one  taking  Each  other8 
Land  from  him  as  soon  as  a  man9  back  is  turnd  an  other 
is  on  his  Land  the  man  that  is  strong  and  able  to  make 
Other8  Afraid  of  him  Seem9  to  have  the  best  Chance  as 
tim8  go  now."  "I  do  not  find  I  can  get  you  the  Quan- 
tity of  Land  .  .  .  without  I  cold  stay  all  Summer 
and  be  on  the  spot  as  People  Crowd  out  in  such  num- 
bers the  Like  never  was  seen."  416 

In  spite  of  this  situation,  Croghan  opened  a  land 
office  at  Pittsburg  in  1770  and  began  selling  his  lands 
to  anyone  who  would  buy.  He  offered  to  sell  at  £10 
sterling  per  100  acres,  to  be  paid  when  Croghan  could 
give  a  good  title,  plus  the  cost  of  surveying  to  be  paid 
in  cash;  this  cost  amounted  to  £6  per  1,000  acres.  If, 
however,  the  purchaser  would  waive  the  guarantee, 
Croghan  offered  to  sell  at  £5  cash  per  100  acres.  He 
soon  took  in  several  thousand  pounds  cash.  Within 
a  year  sixty  families  were  settled  on  his  lands.     Repre- 

415  Crawford  to  Washington,  Apr.  20,  1771,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to 
Washington,  iv,  57;  idem,  56,  76,  117,  121,  294;  Pa.  Arch.,  w,  425;  William 
Wilkins  to  Simon  Gratz,  July  16,  18 10,  Administration  in,  88,  Etting  Coll. 

416  Hamilton:    Letters  to  Washington,  w,  119,  121. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  29 1 

sentatives  of  some  German  settlers  came  to  negotiate 
for  20,000  acres.  Plumsted  and  Franks  contracted  for 
30,000  acres.  Thomas  Lawrence,  Edward  Shippen, 
John  Morgan,  and  others  accepted  deeds  to  more  than 
20,000  acres  as  security  for  their  loans  to  Croghan. 
Alexander  Ross,  Croghan's  old  attorney,  purchased 
5,000  acres.  As  security  or  payment  for  debts,  Cro- 
ghan conveyed  to  Edward  Ward  7,097  acres ;  to  Joseph 
Simon  10,580  acres;  and  to  Barnard  Gratz  55,627 
acres.417 

One  large  sale  Croghan  was  very  anxious  to  make 
above  all  others ;  this  was  a  sale  to  George  Washington. 
Such  a  sale  would  give  confidence  in  Croghan's  ability 
to  complete  his  legal  title  and  it  would  insure  influen- 
tial support  should  it  become  necessary  to  seek  a  title 
from  Virginia.  Washington  was  interested  in  Ohio 
lands.  In  1767,  he  instructed  Crawford  while  osten- 
sibly engaged  on  a  hunting  trip  to  spy  out  the  choicest 
lands  near  Fort  Pitt.418  Crawford  selected  a  tract  of 
about  2,500  acres  on  Chartiers  Creek  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Fort  Pitt.  He  surveyed  it  and  reported 
to  Washington  on  January  7,  1769:     "[I]  have  done  it 

417  Hooper  to  Johnson,  Feb.  9,  1771,  Johnson  mss.,  XX,  91;  Wade  to 
Johnson,  Apr.  20,  1774,  in  idem,  xxii,  247;  Hooper  to  Gov.  Franklin,  May 
22,  1771,  in  Pa*  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxxv,  450.  Numerous  accounts, 
deeds,  bonds,  and  letters  relating  to  Croghan's  sales  are  found  in  the 
Gratz-Croghan  Deeds,  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  and  Ohio  Co.  mss.;  see  also 
Crumrine,  Boyd:  "Records  of  Deeds  for  the  District  of  West  Augusta, 
Va".,  in  Annals  of  the  Carnegie  Museum  of  Pittsburgh,  in,  237ff. 

418  Writings,  11,  219.  The  following  quotation  describes  the  kind  of 
lands  Washington  desired:  "1st  If  the  Land  is  very  hilly  and  broken, 
I  shou'd  not  choose  to  be  concern'd  with  it  .  .  .  unless  those  hills  were 
of  the  richest  kind ;  the  growth  of  which  shall  be  walnut,  cherry,  and  such 
other  sorts  of  timber,  as  denote  the  most  luxuriant  Soil.  2nd  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Land  shou'd  be  level,  or  at  least  wavy,  that  is,  in  little 
risings,  sufficient  to  lay  it  dry  and  fit  for  the  Plough,  I  wou'd  put  up  with  a 
soil  less  fertile,  but  in  either  case  I  shou'd  expect  the  Tract  to  be  well 
watered,  and  well  timbered  with  a  sufficiency  of  meadow  ground  upon  it." 

-Instructions  to  Crawford,  Nov.  24,  1770,  in  Washington  mss.,  xii,  1469. 


292       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

as  if  for  my  self,  taking  all  the  good  Land,  and  Leve- 
ing  all  that  was  sory,  only  some  Joyning  the  Mill 
Seat."  419 

In  1770,  Washington  made  a  tour  to  the  Ohio  River 
and  on  October  19,  he  dined  at  Croghan  Hall.  Cro- 
ghan  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  offer  Wash- 
ington 10,000  acres  around  the  headwaters  of  Racoon 
and  Chartiers  Creeks.420  After  his  return,  Washington 
wrote  Croghan  that  he  wanted  15,000  acres  in  one  tract 
and  that  Crawford  would  view  the  lands  he  had  for 
sale  and  survey  them  providing  Croghan  would  sell 
them  at  £5  per  100  acres,  subject  to  a  quit-rent  after 
twenty  years  of  2  shillings  sterling  per  100  acres,  and 
payment  to  be  made  when  a  legal  title  was  established.421 
Croghan  was  elated  and  reported  to  Michael  Gratz  on 
February  20,  1771,  that  he  had  sold  a  parcel  of  lands 
to  Colonel  Washington  and  some  other  Virginia 
gentlemen  and  that  he  was  engaged  in  surveying  them. 

Croghan  offered  Washington  a  township  of  27,500 
acres,  but  asked  for  immediate  payment.  To  this 
Washington  replied  politely  that  this  was  more  than 
he  wanted  and  he  assumed  that  Croghan  would  not 
want  to  sell  part  of  a  township;  that  he  would,  how- 
ever, try  to  get  some  other  gentleman  to  buy  the  portion 
he  did  not  want;  and  that  in  the  meantime,  Croghan 
should  feel  free  to  sell  the  lands  to  anyone  he  could.422 
Had  Croghan  not  asked  for  cash  Washington  would 
have  made  the  purchase,  but  the  latter  was  too  shrewd 

419  Hamilton:     Letters  to  Washington,  ill,  330. 

420  Washington's  "Journal  of  a  Tour  to  the  Ohio  River",  in  Writings,  II, 
290-292. 

421  Washington  to  Croghan,  Nov.  24,  1770,  in  Washington  mss.,  xii,  1468. 

422  Croghan  to  Washington,  Aug.  18,  1771  (with  survey  enclosed),  in 
Washington  mss.,  xii,  1558;  Washington  to  Croghan,  Oct.  21,  1771,  in 
idem,  1472. 


SALE  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  OHIO  LANDS  293 

a  business  man  to  engage  in  wild  land  speculation. 
As  the  months  went  by,  Crawford  and  Washington 
manifested  the  keenest  interest  in  Croghan's  activities 
and  in  news  concerning  royal  confirmation  of  Cro- 
ghan's grant  and  of  Vandalia.  In  1773,  Lord  Dun- 
more,  while  on  a  tour  to  the  Ohio,  told  Crawford  that 
unless  news  came  from  London  that  Vandalia  was  es- 
tablished by  the  time  he  returned  east,  he  would  grant 
Crawford  patents  for  his  surveys  and  appoint  him 
surveyor  of  one  of  the  new  counties  to  be  laid  out  by 
Virginia  on  the  Ohio.  By  the  close  of  the  year  Craw- 
ford and  Washington  felt  assured  that  they  could  soon 
secure  patents  for  the  surveys  which  they  had  been 
making  in  the  region  south  of  the  Ohio.423 

Croghan  felt  bitterly  disappointed,  but  put  forth 
every  effort  to  hold  his  lands  and  to  prevent  Washing- 
ton from  winning  them.  Squatter  rights  would  be  cer- 
tain to  be  an  important  factor  in  the  final  outcome. 
Crawford  therefore  employed  frontiersmen  to  build 
good  log  cabins  on  Washington's  surveys  and  to  clear 
an  acre  of  ground  around  each  cabin.  Croghan's 
brother  and  agent,  Major  Ward,  encouraged  persons 
to  go  and  settle  upon  the  same  lands,  telling  them  that 
they  did  not  belong  to  Virginia  officers  and  soldiers  nor 
did  Crawford  have  any  orders  from  the  governor  of 
Virginia  to  survey  them.  Crawford  reported  to  Wash- 
ington on  December  29,  1773,  that  they  "took  your 
Land  and  say  the  will  Keep  it,  I  cold  Drive  them  away 
but  they  will  com  back  Emedetly  as  soon  as  my  back 
is  turnd,  They  man  I  put  on  the  Land  they  have  drove 
away  and  Built  a  house  so  Close  to  his  dore  he  cannot 

423  Washington :  Writings,  n,  347;  Hamilton:  Letters  to  Washington, 
IV,  56,  118,  121,  275,  296,  311. 


294       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

get  into  the  house  at  the  dore     .     .     .     there  is  no  get- 
ting them  of  without  by  Force  of  Arms.     .     ." 424 

During  this  struggle,  Washington's  initial  claims 
were  based  upon  the  land  bounties  which  Governor 
Dinwiddie  in  1754  had  promised  to  Virginians  who 
would  enlist  to  fight  the  French;  Croghan's  initial 
claims  rested  upon  his  Indian  purchase  of  1749  and 
1768.  Both  invested  capital  and  tried  to  hold  their 
lands  by  surveying  them  and  by  placing  squatters  upon 
them.  Washington  looked  to  Williamsburg  where  he 
would  be  able  to  secure  a  title  in  fee  simple  if  the  Van- 
dalia  project  should  be  defeated.  Croghan  looked  to 
London  where  the  success  of  the  Vandalia  project 
would  insure  him  a  title  in  fee  simple.  This  rivalry  of 
Washington  and  Croghan  represented  the  frontier 
phase  of  the  great  struggle  going  on  in  London  over 
the  proposed  establishment  of  Vandalia. 


424  Hamilton:  Letters  to  Washington,  iv,  293.  The  squatters  clung 
stubbornly  to  their  improvements  throughout  the  turmoil  of  succeeding  years. 
Washington  finally  secured  possession  after  the  Revolution  by  lawsuits. 
Altogether,  Washington  secured  title  to  nearly  40,000  acres  in  the  Ohio 
region. 


Obstruction  in  London  and  Williamsburg, 
I773"I793 

By  the  close  of  1773,  the  opposition  to  Vandalia  was 
so  successful  in  London  in  its  tactics  of  obstruction  that 
the  leaders  of  the  westward  movement  who  sought  to 
satisfy  their  craving  for  western  lands  through  Van- 
dalia began  to  seek  other  ways  of  gaining  their  ends. 
The  new  imperial  land  policy  announced  in  1773  and 
1774  strengthened  their  resolution.  By  this  policy 
western  lands  in  royal  provinces  were  to  be  surveyed 
into  tracts  of  from  100  to  1,000  acres,  advertised  for 
sale  for  four  months,  and  then  sold  at  auction  to  the 
highest  bidder  subject  to  a  quit-rent  of  one  half  pence 
sterling  per  acre.  The  only  exception  made  was  for 
military  grants  under  the  proclamation  of  1763.  This 
policy  promised  to  yield  the  imperial  revenue  which 
the  Stamp  Act  had  failed  to  produce  and  to  make  it 
difficult  for  one  to  secure  an  estate  of  thousands 
of  acres.  Revolutionary  protests  to  this  plan  soon 
appeared. 

To  surmount  these  barriers  the  land  speculators 
utilized  first  the  famous  legal  opinion  given  by  Lords 
Camden  and  Yorke,  two  eminent  lawyers,  both  of 
whom  held  the  position  of  Lord  Chancellor.  Accord- 
ing to  this  opinion,  a  title  to  land  granted  by  the  natives 
was  a  full  and  sufficient  title  and  rendered  unnecessary 
the  securing  of  a  royal  patent.  Though  announced  as 
early   as    1757   in   connection  with   land   disputes   in 


296       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

India,425  and  though  it  was  stated  that  Lords  Camden 
and  Yorke  personally  confirmed  the  opinion  to  Cro- 
ghan  when  he  was  in  England  in  1764,426  land  specula- 
tors in  America  made  no  use  of  it  till  1773.  Its  exist- 
ence was  known  to  but  a  few  and  they  kept  it  secret. 
Wharton  and  Trent  knew  of  it  shortly  after  they 
reached  England  in  1769;  Gage  and  Haldimand  did 
not  seem  to  know  of  it  till  1773. 

The  opinion  was  first  utilized  in  America  in  1773,  by 
the  Illinois  Land  Company.  This  company  was  or- 
ganized by  Croghan's  close  associates,  David  Franks, 
John  Campbell,  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  large  Indian  purchase  in  Illinois. 
The  Gratzs  furnished  the  necessary  Indian  goods  and 
William  Murray  was  sent  to  make  the  purchase.  On 
his  way  to  Illinois  he  stopped  at  Pittsburg  for  a  con- 
ference with  Croghan.  The  entire  scheme  was  kept 
secret  till  Murray  appeared  in  Illinois.427 

The  Camden-Yorke  opinion  offered  another  possible 
way  for  Croghan  to  complete  legal  titles  in  his  200,000 
acre  Indian  grant.  This  opinion  also  encouraged  him 
to  secure  other  Indian  grants.  With  great  caution  and 
prudence,  Croghan,  in  1773,  purchased  1,500,000  acres 
lying  north  of  the  Ohio  near  Pittsburg  for  $6,000  from 
some  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations.  He  agreed  that  it  was 
not  to  be  settled  for  fifteen  years  unless  the  Indians 
around    Pittsburg  should   move   to   hunting  grounds 

425  Wharton:     Plain  Facts,  9. 

426  William  Murray  to  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  May  15,  1773,  in  Ohio  Co. 
MSS.,  1,  102. 

427  In  1775,  Murray  made  another  purchase  for  the  Wabash  Company. 
These  two  companies  were  united  in  1779,  under  the  chairmanship  of  George 
Ross,  who  had  been  prosecuting  attorney  for  Cumberland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  also  Croghan's  attorney  for  a  number  of  years.  Croghan's 
influence  with  these  men  was  probably  an  important  factor  in  the  rise  and 
development  of  these  companies. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  297 

farther  down  the  Ohio.  To  secure  money  for  this  pur- 
chase Croghan  borrowed  $4,000  in  Virginia.  In  1775, 
in  order  to  pay  this  debt,  Croghan  offered  1,000,000 
acres  to  Trent  and  the  Wharton's  at  $4,000  cash  before 
his  Virginia  creditors  should  take  it.428 

On  July  10,  1775,  Croghan  made  another  purchase 
at  Pittsburg  on  similar  terms  from  five  chiefs  of  the  Six 
Nations  for  $12,000,  paid  mostly  in  Indian  goods.  It 
consisted  of  6,000,000  acres  and  included  most  of  the 
land  between  the  Allegheny  River  and  Big  Beaver 
Creek.  Two  years  later  he  sold  to  Thomas  Walker 
and  his  sons,  John  and  Thomas  Jr.,  and  six  other  Vir- 
ginians 1,200,000  acres  thereof  for  $5,ooo.429 

In  1772,  Samuel  Wharton,  Trent,  Johnson,  and  some 
wealthy  Englishmen  organized  a  company  to  make  a 
similar  purchase  north  of  the  Ohio.  Wharton  asked 
Croghan  to  ascertain  the  attitude  of  the  Indians  to- 
wards it.  The  scheme  was  dropped  till  1774  when 
with  the  greatest  secrecy  the  necessary  Indian  goods, 
valued  at  £1,871,  were  shipped  from  England  to  Vir- 
ginia. For  an  entire  year  Samuel  Wharton  kept  even 
his  brother,  Thomas,  in  Philadelphia  thinking  that  the 
goods  were  intended  as  a  present  for  the  Indians  when 
the  governor  of  Vandalia  should  arrive  at  Pittsburg. 
They  were  stored  at  Georgetown  and  to  Samuel  Whar- 
ton's chagrin,  the  gunpowder  and  lead  were  seized  or 
had  to  be  sold  to  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  1775. 

The  purchase  was  to  have  been  made  during  the 
summer  of  1775.     The  continental  congress  was  meet- 

4:28  Croghan  to  Trent,  July  15,  1775,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  ii,  6;  "Minute 
book  of  the  Virginia  Court  held  at  Fort  Dunmore",  in  Annals  of  the  Car- 
negie Museum  of  Pittsburgh,  1,  554. 

4:29  Croghan's  original  deed  is  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  Walker 
Page  of  Washington,  D.C.  It  is  printed  in  Page,  R.  C.  M. :  Genealogy  of 
the  Page  Family,  etc.,  188;  cf.  also  186. 


298       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ing  in  Philadelphia  by  this  time  and  Samuel  Wharton 
wrote  to  his  brother  and  asked  him  to  cultivate  friendly- 
relations  with  the  Virginia  delegates,  particularly  with 
Patrick  Henry,  and,  if  necessary,  to  concern  some  of 
them  in  the  purchase.  He  also  asked  that  his  brother 
and  Benjamin  Franklin  use  all  their  influence  to  get 
the  congress  to  pass  a  resolution  or  declaration  "ex- 
pressive of  the  Validity  and  Sufficiency  of  a  Title  to 
Lands,  fairly  bought  of  the  Aborigines  and  held  under 
Grants  (Only)  from  Them."  To  make  his  task  easier, 
Samuel  Wharton  authorized  his  brother  to  make  a 
present  of  half  a  share  apiece  to  eight  delegates  and  he 
sent  him  four  pamphlets  discussing  the  Camden-Yorke 
opinion.  He  asked  that  these  be  shown  to  but  few 
persons  and  that  Thomas  write  him  in  cipher.430 

The  Camden-Yorke  opinion  also  led  to  a  burst  of 
renewed  activity  by  the  Indiana  Company  with  the 
scene  of  action  shifting  back  to  America  when  Trent 
returned  from  London  early  in  1775.  From  1769  to 
1775,  this  company  had  merged  its  claim  in  the  larger 
project  of  Vandalia,  but  after  this  had  failed  to  ma- 
terialize, the  Indiana  Company,  in  1775,  resumed  its 
independent  position.  Before  leaving  England,  Trent 
had  secured  from  Henry  Dagge  and  John  Glynn,  two 
of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  London,  written  opin- 
ions which  stated  in  essence  that  the  Camden-Yorke 

430  Thomas  Wharton  to  Croghan,  July  25  and  Sept.  30,  1774;  T.  Wharton 
to  Richardson,  Jan.  17,  May  13,  and  June  28,  1775;  S.  Wharton  to  T. 
Wharton,  Jan.  31  and  Aug.  7,  1775;  and  T.  Wharton  to  Thomas^  Walpole, 
Sept.  23,  1774. -all  found  in  Thomas  Wharton's  Letter  Bk.,  1773-1784  or  in 
the  Wharton  Loose  mss.  Of  Franklin,  Samuel  Wharton  wrote:  "Dr.  F. 
is  grown  old,  and  is  not  so  active  as  He  was  Twenty  Years  ago,  and  how- 
ever well  disposed,  as  I  know  He  is,  To  establish  in  America,  the  Rights 
of  the  Six  Nations  etc.  to  their  Territories,  and  all  fair  Grants  obtained 
from  Them,  Yet  will  be  necessary  for  you  and  Major  Trent,  with  his 
Concurrence,  To  take  an  active  Part  with  the  other  Members  of  the 
Congress." 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  299 

opinion  was  applicable  to  the  Indiana  grant.  After  he 
reached  Philadelphia,  Trent  secured  the  written  en- 
dorsement of  Patrick  Henry  and  Benjamin  Franklin 
to  these  opinions.431  He  also  sought  to  get  similar 
statements  from  other  delegates  of  the  continental  con- 
gress and  through  pamphlets  and  newspapers  to  create 
a  favorable  attitude  toward  the  principle  involved. 

Trent  then  visited  Croghan  at  Pittsburg  and  assumed 
the  authority  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  company  at  that 
place  on  September  21,  1775.  Besides  Croghan  and 
Trent,  six  other  members  were  present.  Trent  stated  to 
them  that  on  his  arrival  in  England  in  1769,  Lord  Cam- 
den, Franklin,  and  others  advised  him  that  it  was  not 
necessary  to  seek  royal  confirmation,  but  only  to  take 
possession  of  their  grant  and  knowing  that  Hills- 
borough opposed  confirmation  he  did  not  apply  for  it. 
The  eight  members  then  decided  to  ask  Samuel  Whar- 
ton in  London  to  return  the  original  deed  of  1768  in 
order  that  it  might  be  registered  at  Williamsburg  and 
the  sale  of  lands  begun.  The  company  adjourned  to 
meet 'at  Carlisle  in  November.432  Trent  and  many 
others  could  not  attend  and  the  second  meeting  ad- 
journed to  Lancaster  and  then  to  Philadelphia. 

By  this  time  dissention  was  rampant  in  the  company. 
The  interests  of  Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  were 
now  in  the  hands  of  their  creditors ;  those  members  who 
had  contributed  time  and  money  to  the  cause  demanded 
a  redistribution  of  shares;  one  group,  to  which  Cro- 

431  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  xxvn,  151.  Trent  apparently  started 
to  keep  a  book  in  which  these  opinions  were  written  under  the  title  "Opin- 
ions Regarding  the  Grant  to  Wm.  Trent,  1775."  It  is  found  in  the  library 
of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa. 

432  Minutes  of  the  meeting  at  Pittsburg,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  ii,  9.  Many 
other  documents  relating  to  the  company's  history  after  1775  are  found 
in  this  volume  and  in  the  entries  for  the  years  1775  and  1776  in  Thomas 
Wharton's  Letter  Bk.,   1773-1784. 


300       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ghan  belonged,  wished  to  recognize  Virginia's  author- 
ity, but  to  this  the  Whartons,  Franklin,  and  Morgan 
objected;  George  Morgan  was  bitterly  hostile  to  the 
Whartons  and  to  Trent  whom  he  finally  challenged  to 
a  duel.  However,  when  the  company  met  at  Indian 
Queen  Tavern,  Philadelphia,  on  March  20,  1776,  all 
differences  were  conciliated  under  the  influence  of 
Franklin.  Practically  all  members  were  present  either 
in  person  or  by  proxy.  Trent  and  Morgan  represented 
Croghan.  By  unanimous  votes,  the  company  was  reor- 
ganized. Joseph  Galloway  was  elected  President, 
George  Morgan,  Secretary  of  the  Land  Office  and  also 
Receiver-General,  and  Robert  L.  Hooper,  Surveyor- 
General. 

It  was  also  decided  to  open  immediately  a  land  office 
at  Pittsburg.  All  settlers  who  had  intruded  upon  the 
lands  and  who  had  made  improvements  before  1776 
were  given  the  right  to  apply  for  not  more  than  400 
acres  at  the  price  of  $50  per  100  acres.  After  1777,  all 
remaining  lands  were  to  be  surveyed  and  sold.433 
When  Morgan  advertised  these  terms,  the  Virginia 
delegates  in  Philadelphia  went  into  conference  with 
the  leaders  of  the  company  and  indicated  that  they 
would  be  able  to  support  the  company's  claims  if  it 
would  recognize  Virginia's  authority  over  the  region. 
This  it  declined  to  do.  As  a  result  of  Virginia's  oppo- 
sition, settlers  were  encouraged  to  resist  and  deride  the 
company's  claims.  This  forced  the  relinquishment  for 
the  time  being  of  the  plan  to  sell  lands. 

The  impossibility  of  securing  from  frontiersmen  and 

433  Thomas  Wharton's  Indiana  Company  mss.  ;  Documents  respecting  the 
claim  of  persons  therein  mentioned  to  a  certain  tract  of  land  called  Indiana. 
Morgan's  major  attention  on  his  return  to  Pittsburg  was  given  to  his 
work  as  Indian  agent  for  the  Middle  Department  for  the  continental 
congress. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  301 

from  the  powerful  colony  of  Virginia,  recognition  of 
a  land  title  based  upon  the  Camden-Yorke  opinion 
caused  the  more  practical  land  speculators  to  seek  con- 
firmation of  their  land  claims  at  Williamsburg.  With 
the  failure  of  Vandalia  to  secure  its  charter  in  1773, 
Virginia,  under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Dunmore, 
again  asserted  its  authority  in  the  West  with  a  surpris- 
ing decisiveness.  Dunmore  was  welcomed  by  the  Vir- 
ginia land  speculators  as  a  patron  who  personally  de- 
sired to  increase  his  wealth  by  acquiring  lands  in  the 
West. 

Until  the  close  of  1773,  these  persons  had  regarded 
the  establishment  of  Vandalia  as  inevitable  and  had 
tried  to  save  what  they  could  for  themselves.  Recog- 
nition would  probably  be  accorded  to  legally  acquired 
titles  to  lands  within  its  borders,  but  to  secure  such 
titles  was  difficult.  One  loop  hole  had  been  left  in  the 
imperial  prohibitions  on  granting  western  lands :  ex- 
ceptions had  been  made  so  that  bounties  in  land  could 
be  provided  for  the  regular  soldiers  and  perhaps  also 
for  the  provincial  soldiers  of  the  French  and  Indian 
War.  Surveyors  were  therefore  sent  out  in  all  direc- 
tions in  the  region  south  of  the  Ohio  to  survey  such 
lands.  Though  rebuked  by  Lord  Dartmouth,  Dun- 
more and  his  council  issued  patents  for  these  lands. 
Some  were  located  as  far  west  as  the  falls  of  the  Ohio. 
Here,  Dr.  John  Connolly,  a  nephew  of  Croghan  and  the 
representative  of  Dunmore  in  the  West,  John  Camp- 
bell, and  Edward  Ward  received  grants  and  started  to 
lay  out  a  town  on  the  present  site  of  Louisville.  Dun- 
more even  recommended  to  London  the  recognition  of 
the  Illinois  Land  Company's  purchase  of  1773  and  par- 
ticipated in  a  similar  purchase  by  the  Wabash  Land 
Company  in  1775. 


302       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Croghan  was  among  those  who  sought  favors  from 
Lord  Dunmore.  He  laid  his  Indian  deed  for  200,000 
acres  before  Dunmore  and  the  latter  pronounced  it 
legal.  To  secure  a  patent  for  it,  Croghan  planned  a 
journey  to  Williamsburg  in  June,  1774.  Crawford 
and  Connolly,  fearing  that  because  of  his  diplomatic 
ability  he  might  succeed,  wrote  to  Washington  and 
urged  him  to  use  his  utmost  power  to  defeat  the 
attempt.  Because  of  this  opposition  and  because  Cro- 
ghan felt  that  his  presence  was  needed  at  Pittsburg  in 
the  critical  opening  days  of  Lord  Dunmore's  Indian 
war,  his  proposed  journey  was  abandoned.434 

The  rapid  advance  of  the  settler's  frontier  angered 
the  Indians,  particularly  the  Shawnee.  Since  1768, 
when  the  Shawnee  had  been  disregarded  in  the  sale 
of  the  lands  south  of  the  Ohio,  they  had  been  discon- 
tented. Sporadic  murders  of  both  whites  and  Indians 
occurred.  Because  of  the  policy  of  economy  followed 
in  the  Indian  department,  presents  were  not  available 
to  help  the  situation.  War  might  have  at  least  been 
postponed  had  Lord  Dunmore  followed  a  different 
policy.  He  was  charged  with  bringing  on  war  in 
order  to  halt  the  plans  for  the  establishment  of  Van- 
dalia  and  to  secure  a  large  Indian  grant  at  the  treaty 
of  peace  for  himself.  The  rashness  of  his  western 
agent,  Connolly,  served  to  start  the  war  which  later 
became  known  as  Lord  Dunmore's  War.  Shortly 
after  April  16,  1774,  when  the  Shawnee  had  attacked 
three  traders,  Connolly  issued  an  open  letter  command- 
ing the  frontiersmen  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  repel  an  Indian  attack.  This  served  practically  as 
a  declaration  of  war.     On  the  27th,  Cresap  killed  two 

434  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Sept.  24,  1774,  in  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  I,  38 ; 
Hamilton:     Letters  to  Washington,  iv,  311  and  v,  8. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  303 

Shawnee  who  were  quietly  assisting  white  traders  and 
on  the  30th  occurred  the  foul  murder  of  nine  kinsmen 
of  the  famous  Mingo  chief,  Logan.  Soon  the  Virginia 
frontier  was  again  engaged  in  a  bloody  Indian  war. 
Hundreds  of  frontiersmen  abandoned  their  cabins  and 
fled  in  panic  to  the  east.  Had  the  Delawares  and  the 
Six  Nations  on  the  Ohio  joined  the  Shawnee,  a  for- 
midable Indian  war  would  have  resulted  which  would 
probably  have  involved  Pennsylvania  as  well  as 
Virginia. 

During  this  crisis,  Croghan  was  called  upon  once 
more  to  take  charge  of  Indian  affairs.  McKee,  who 
held  the  office  of  deputy  superintendent,  and  Connolly, 
who  appeared  to  be  appalled  by  the  threatening  storm, 
both  looked  to  Croghan  to  stem  the  tide.  The  Whar- 
tons  in  Philadelphia  in  the  interests  of  Vandalia, 
quickly  forwarded  50,000  black  and  white  wampum 
to  Croghan.435  May  and  June  saw  the  frontier  in 
feverish  activity.  Indian  runners  brought  news  to 
Croghan  and  took  back  with  them  his  invitations  to 
Indian  chiefs  whom  he  knew  personally  to  come  to  his 
house  for  a  conference.  The  Shawnee  chiefs  declined 
to  come,  but  the  leading  Delaware  and  Six  Nation 
chiefs  came.  Croghan,  McKee,  Connolly,  and  St. 
Clair,  the  western  representative  of  Pennsylvania,  met 
them  in  numerous  conferences  and  were  able  to  keep 
them  from  joining  the  Shawnee.436  At  times,  bands  of 
frontiersmen  surrounded  Croghan's  house  and  tried  to 

435  Thomas  Wharton  to  Thomas  Walpole,  Sept.  3,  1774,  in  Thomas 
Wharton's  Letter  Bk.,  1773-1784.  Valuable  material  for  Lord  Dunmore's 
War  is  found  in  this  Letter  Book  and  also  in  the  Croghan  and  Wharton 
letters  printed  in  the  Pa.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  XV,  435ff. 

436  McKee's  Journal  of  Transactions  with  the  Indians  at  Pittsburg,  May 
i-June  10,  1774,  in  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vin,  5i2ff. ;  Connolly's  Journal  and  other 
documents  are  found  in  Letters  and  Documents  Relating  to  the  Indians, 
1750-1775,  Chalmers  Coll. 


304       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

kill  such  Indians  as  came.  In  order  to  prepare  for 
the  worst,  Croghan  and  the  Pennsylvania  officials 
agreed  to  raise,  provision,  and  pay  a  company  of  one 
hundred  rangers  to  patrol  western  Pennsylvania. 
They  hoped  that  this  province  would  reimburse  them. 
"Whatever  may  be  Mr.  Croghan's  real  views,  I  am 
certain  he  is  hearty  in  promoting  the  general  tranquil- 
lity of  the  Country,  indeed  He  is  indefatigable  in  en- 
deavouring to  make  up  the  Breaches  .  .  .",  re- 
ported St.  Clair  to  Governor  Penn  on  June  22,  1774.437 
Croghan  had  been  able  to  serve  the  interests  of  Van- 
dalia,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  the  Delawares,  and  the 
Six  Nations,  as  well  as  his  own  personal  interests. 

While  Pennsylvania,  the  Delawares,  and  Six  Nations 
were  thus  being  kept  neutral,  the  Virginia  militia  was 
being  mobilized  under  orders  from  Lord  Dunmore. 
It  defeated  the  Shawnee  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Point 
Pleasant.  The  Shawnee,  abandoned  by  the  other 
tribes,  met  Lord  Dunmore  and  agreed  to  a  preliminary 
peace.  What  terms  Dunmore  intended  to  exact  in  the 
final  treaty  and  therefore  his  motives  in  the  war,  can 
only  be  surmised  for  he  was  soon  compelled  by  the 
outbreak  of  the  Revolution  to  flee  to  an  English  war- 
ship. Lord  Dunmore's  War  resulted  in  keeping  Ken- 
tucky open  to  settlement  and  gave  peace  to  the  frontier 
during  the  first  two  years  of  the  Revolution. 

The  aggressive  western  policy  of  Lord  Dunmore  in 
1773  and  1774  was  also  reflected  in  the  boundary  con- 
troversy between  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  Accord- 
ing to  the  charter  granted  to  William  Penn,  the  western 
boundary  of  Pennsylvania  was  a  very  irregular  line 
located  five  degrees  west  of  the  Delaware  River  and 
paralleling  it.     The  Penns  maintained  that  this  line 

437  Pa.  Arch.,  iv,  524;  see  also  501,  509,  523,  527,  5S^.f  $74. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  305 

began  at  the  39th  parallel  and  therefore  gave  them  a 
large  tract  west  of  Maryland  and  reaching  down  to- 
wards Virginia.  This  line  had  never  been  surveyed. 
It  so  happened  that  Pittsburg  lay  only  five  miles  east 
of  the  line  and  therefore,  before  accurate  surveys  were 
made,  no  one  could  tell  whether  it  was  in  Pennsylvania 
or  in  Virginia.  In  deciding  this  question,  the  opinion 
rendered  by  Lord  Chancellor  Camden  during  the  dis- 
pute between  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut  over 
Wyoming  was  cited.  He  had  stated  that  since  the 
recognition  of  the  "parchement"  boundaries  of  all  col- 
onies would  lead  to  endless  disputes,  many  other  factors 
must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  locating  boundary 
lines;  such  factors  as  possession,  acquiescence,  agree- 
ment, or  geography  might  result  in  the  extension  or 
contraction  of  charter  boundaries.438 

These  conditions  led  the  proprietors  of  Vandalia  to 
hope  that  their  proposed  colony  would  include  Pitts- 
burg. The  Penns,  on  the  other  hand,  were  led  to 
maintain  the  impracticability  of  a  line  which  should 
follow  the  windings  of  the  Delaware  River;  they  advo- 
cated a  straight  line  for  their  western  boundary  and 
proceeded  to  grant  lands  and  serve  legal  processes 
beyond  their  charter  limits.  And  finally,  Virginia 
also  began  to  grant  lands  in  southwestern  Pennsylvania 
and  seized  Pittsburg. 

In  the  bitter  controversy  which  followed,  Croghan 
took  sides  with  Virginia  because,  if  her  jurisdiction 
were  established,  it  would  at  least  be  possible  for  him 

438  Connolly  to  Washington,  Feb.  1,  1774,  in  Hamilton:  Letters  to 
Washington,  iv,  320;  Dunmore- Dartmouth  correspondence,  1774-1775,  in 
C.  O.,  5:  1352;  Crumrine,  Boyd:  "The  Pennsylvania  Boundary  Contro- 
versy", in  Annals  of  the  Carnegie  Museum  of  Pittsburgh,  1,  5i4ff. ;  Craig, 
N.  B.:  Lecture  upon  the  boundary  controversy  between  Va.  and  Pa.;  Peti- 
tion of  Thomas  and  John  Penn  to  the  King,  1773,  in  Bd.  of  Tr.  Pap.,  Plan- 
tations General,  xxm,  303  ;  idem,  xxiv,  35. 


306       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

to  secure  legal  title  to  his  various  land  claims;  "real 
Friendship  you  must  not  expect,  for  by  his  Interest 
alone  he  is  regulated",  wrote  St.  Clair  to  Governor 
Penn  concerning  Croghan  on  June  22,  1774.439  As 
early  as  1771,  Croghan  had  refused  to  pay  taxes  on 
some  of  his  lands  in  Pennsylvania  and  his  example  had 
much  influence  on  others.  Armed  mobs  of  settlers 
drove  off  tax  collectors  and  prevented  sheriffs  from 
performing  their  duties. 

In  her  conflict  with  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  was 
handicapped  because  she  had  no  militia  law  and  be- 
cause her  assembly  during  the  years  1749  to  1755,  had 
refused  to  erect  a  fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  and  had 
maintained  that  this  place  lay  beyond  her  limits.  Sub- 
sequent events  had  submerged  the  issue,  but  in  1774, 
the  Pennsylvania  authorities  were  rudely  awakened 
when  they  heard  that  Dr.  Connolly,  a  bold  intriguer, 
had  seized  Fort  Pitt,  renamed  it  Fort  Dunmore,  and 
asserted  the  authority  of  Virginia  over  the  surrounding 
region.  He  was  arrested  by  Pennsylvania  authorities, 
but  released  on  his  promise  to  return  for  trial.  He 
returned,  but  at  the  head  of  150  armed  men.  He  now 
acted  in  a  very  high-handed  manner;  horses  and  sheep 
were  seized ;  Pennsylvanians  had  their  lands  taken  away 
and  saw  them  given  over  to  Virginians;  Pennsylvania 
traders  were  stopped  and  forced  to  pay  duties  on  their 
furs  and  skins ;  Pennsylvania  officials  were  arrested  and 
sent  to  Virginia.  Counter  arrests  followed.  Every- 
one who  undertook  to  perform  any  official  act  was 
liable  to  be  thrown  into  jail  by  partisans  of  the  other 
side.  Riots  and  broils  were  common  and  intense  pas- 
sions  existed   among  the   frontiersmen.     Lord    Dart- 

439  Pa.  Arch.,  iw,  525;  cf.  424-612,  passim. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  307 

mouth  supported  Dunmore's  policy  and  attempts  made 
by  the  Penns  to  settle  the  matter  peaceably,  failed. 

Pennsylvania  had  established  the  new  county  of 
Westmoreland  in  1773.  It  included  Pittsburg  and  the 
surrounding  region.  On  December  12,  1774,  Governor 
Dunmore  by  proclamation  organized  the  District  of 
West  Augusta ;  it  included  Pittsburg  and  much  of  south- 
western Pennsylvania.  As  justices  of  the  peace  he 
appointed  the  old  justices  of  Augusta  County  together 
with  the  leading  Virginia  adherents  in  the  disputed 
area.  These  included  Croghan  and  some  of  his  rela- 
tions and  close  associates.  Attorneys,  constables,  dep- 
uty sheriffs,  and  militia  officers  were  also  appointed. 
When  the  first  court  was  held  at  Pittsburg  on  Febru- 
ary 21,  1775,  Croghan  "took  the  Usual  Oaths  to  his 
Majesties  Person  and  Government,  Subscribed  the  Ab- 
juration Oath  and  test,  and  also  took  the  Oaths  of 
Justices  of  the  Peace  and  of  Justices  of  the  County 
Court  in  Chancery,  and  of  Justices  of  Oyer  and  Term- 
iner".440 He  then  sat  as  the  presiding  justice.  Among 
the  justices  who  sat  with  him  at  this  and  later  meetings 
were  John  Campbell,  Dorsey  Pentecost,  Thomas 
Smallman,  Edward  Ward,  and  John  Connolly. 
Among  the  cases  decided  by  this  court  were  cases  in- 
volving land  titles,  mortgages,  thefts,  and  murders. 

The  following  extracts  from  its  Minute  Book  show 
the  nature  of  its  other  activities  and  also  of  some 
economic  and  social  conditions  around  Pittsburg  in 
1775:  "Ord[ered]  that  the  Sheriff  Imploy  a  Work- 
man to  build  a  Ducking  Stool  at  the  Confluence  of  the 
Ohio  with  the  Monongohale.     .     . 

440Crumrine:  "The  Minute  Book  of  the  Virginia  court  held  at  Fort 
Dunmore  for  the  District  of  West  Augusta",  in  Annals  of  the  Carnegie 
Museum  of  Pittsburgh,  1,  526 ;  ibid,  525-540,  passim. 


308       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

"On  the  Motion  of  Henry  Heath,  leave  is  granted  him 
to  keep  a  ferry  on  the  Monongohale  River  at  his  own 
Plantation  and  he  provide  a  Boat  for  the  sd  ferry. 
"On  the  Motion  of  John  Gibson,  It  is  Ord.  that  his 
Mark  be  a  Slit  in  the  right  and  a  Crop  in  the  left  Ear 
and  brand  I  G. 

"License  to  keep  an  ordinary  [tavern]  is  Granted  to 
John  Ormsby,  he  hav'g  compld  with  the  Law. 
"On  the  Complt  of  John  MacNully  ag'st  his  Master, 
Casper  Reel,  for  beating  and  abuseing  him,  being 
Sum'd,  appeared,  and  on  hear'g  the  parties  and  the 
Wits  the  Court  are  of  Opinion  that  the  Complt  is 
Groundless  and  be  dismised,  and  It  is  Ord  that  the 
Sheriff  take  the  Serv't  and  give  him  25  Lashes  well 
Laid  on.     .     . 

"Ord  that  Paul  Froman,  Thomas  Cook,  Josiah  Craw- 
ford, Jacob  Long  and  Rich'd  Crooks,  they  being  first 
sworn,  View  a  road  from  Fort  Dunmore  to  Paul  Fro- 
man's  and  make  a  report  of  the  Conveniences  and  In- 
conveniences thereof  to  the  next  Court. 
"William  Elliot,  being  bound  over  to  this  Court  by 
Thomas  Smallman,  Gent.,  for  disturbing  the  minds 
of  his  Majesties  Good  people  of  this  County,  by  de- 
manding in  an  arbitrary  and  Illegal  Manner  of  sundry 
Persons  what  Personal  Estate  they  are  possessed  of,  that 
the  same  may  be  tax'd  according  to  the  Laws  of  Penn- 
sylvania, being  called,  appeared  and  on  hearing  the 
argument  of  the  attorneys  the  Court  are  of  opinion  that 
he  be  Committed  to  the  Goal  of  this  County,  and  there 
remain  until  he  Enter  into  recog.  in  the  sum  of  £100, 
with  2  Srtys  in  the  sum  of  5o£  Each,  for  his  good 
Behavior  for  the  space  of  One  Month.     .     ." 

On  November  3,  1776,  Virginia  created  out  of  part 
of  the  District  of  West  Augusta,  the  counties  of  Ohio, 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  309 

Yohogania,  and  Monongalia.  They  took  in  what  is 
today  southwestern  Pennsylvania  and  northern  West 
Virginia.  In  the  courts  of  these  counties  Croghan 
brought  more  than  fifty  suits  against  persons  who  had 
settled  on  the  lands  which  he  claimed.441 

In  return  for  the  support  which  Croghan  had  given 
to  Virginia,  he  expected  Lord  Dunmore  and  his  ad- 
herents to  grant  recognition  to  his  Indian  grant.  Dun- 
more  was  privately  interested  in  seeing  the  principle 
of  the  Camden-Yorke  opinion  recognized  by  Virginia 
and  therefore  Croghan's  prospects  were  good  until  the 
outbreak  of  the  Revolution  placed  new  leaders  in  con- 
trol in  Virginia.  The  brunt  of  the  struggle  over  the 
principle  involved  was  borne  by  the  Indiana  and 
Transylvania  Companies. 

Virginia  threw  down  the  gage  of  battle  to  the  numer- 
ous companies  and  individuals  who  hoped  to  exploit 
her  unoccupied  lands  when  her  famous  convention  of 
1776  passed  a  resolution  that  no  purchases  of  land 
within  her  chartered  limits  should  be  made  from  any 
Indian  tribe  without  the  consent  of  her  legislature. 
The  convention  also  provided  for  a  commission  to  take 
evidence  against  all  persons  pretending  to  claim  lands 
upon  purchases  made  from  the  Indians  before  1776. 
Until  the  legislature  should  act  all  settlers  upon  lands 
in  dispute  were  encouraged  to  remain. 

The  Indiana  Company  now  drew  up  a  memorial  to 
the  legislature  of  Virginia,  dated  October  1,  1776, 
wherein  it  stated  that  to  apply  the  resolutions  of  the 
convention  to  its  grant  was  unjust.  It  maintained  that 
the  grant  was  solemly  made  in  public  to  the  King  in 

441  The  records  of  deeds  for  the  District  of  West  Augusta  and  the 
Minute  Books  of  the  Virginia  Courts  held  for  Ohio  and  Yohogania  counties 
are  printed  in  idem,  in,  2371!.,  5ff.  and  11,  71  ff.,  205ff.,  respectively. 


3 IO       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

trust  for  its  members,  that  it  was  based  on  principles  of 
justice  established  in  the  law  of  nature  and  of  nations; 
that  the  Indians  had  a  right  to  make  such  a  grant  at  the 
time;  and  that  no  law  at  the  time  forbade  the  accept- 
ance of  the  grant  or  made  royal  confirmation  necessary. 
To  declare  its  title  null  and  void  was  therefore  an 
ex  post  facto  action  and  a  violation  of  private  property. 
The  memorial  ended  by  stating  that  the  company  would 
never  hesitate  to  defend  its  title  before  a  proper  court. 
It  refused,  however,  to  defend  it  before  the  commis- 
sion which  had  been  appointed.442 

Croghan  watched  this  case  closely  for  he  still  held 
774  shares  in  the  Indiana  Company;  moreover,  should 
the  principle  for  which  it  was  fighting  be  established, 
a  legal  title  to  his  Indian  grant  would  be  assured. 
Many  Virginians  defended  the  principle  involved; 
among  these  were  Edmund  Pendleton,  speaker  of  the 
house  of  delegates,  once  a  delegate  to  the  continental 
congress  and  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals,  and  James 
Mercer,  also  a  delegate  to  congress.  The  matter  came 
to  a  final  issue  in  Virginia  in  1779.  The  legislature  of 
Virginia  had  invited  all  persons  who  claimed  lands 
within  the  former  charter  limits  of  the  colony  based  on 
Indian  titles,  to  appear  before  it.  Croghan  and  his 
associates  agreed  that  the  case  of  his  Indian  grant 
should  be  presented  through  a  memorial  of  Barnard 
Gratz  and  others,  asking  for  patents  for  the  lands  which 
they  had  purchased  from  him.443  Barnard  Gratz,  him- 
self, went  to  Williamsburg  to  present  the  memorial. 
The  Indiana  Company  sent  Trent  to  argue  its  case. 
The  Ohio  Company  of  Virginia  and  the  Transylvania, 

442 Documents  relating  to  Indiana,  etc.,  5-8;  Wharton:  Plain  Facts, 
ioiff. 

443  Memorial  of  Barnard  Gratz  and  others,  in  Large  Misc.  mss.,  98, 
Etting  Coll.;  Ohio  Co.  mssv  n,  33,  39. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  3  1 1 

Illinois,  and  Wabash  Companies  also  presented  their 
claims.  The  Indiana  Company,  whose  claim  was  the 
strongest  of  all,  secured  a  favorable  vote  in  the  house, 
but  when  it  lost  in  the  senate  the  fate  of  all  similar 
petitioners  was  predetermined.  Virginia  did  offer  the 
members  of  the  Indiana  Company  "consolation"  grants 
in  the  West  similar  to  the  grant  accepted  by  the  Tran- 
sylvania Company,  but  this  offer  was  refused. 

One  petition  involving  the  validity  of  Croghan's 
grant  was,  however,  granted.  Croghan  had  sold  a 
tract  of  about  3,000  acres  in  his  grant  to  Alexander 
Ross  in  1772,  and  the  latter  in  turn  had  sold  it  in  1775  to 
Colonel  Charles  Simms  of  Virginia.  In  1779,  Simms 
asked  Washington  for  a  furlough  in  order  to  go  to 
Williamsburg  to  present  a  petition  for  a  patent  for  this 
tract.  Washington,  who  had  laid  aside  all  of  his  plans 
for  speculating  in  western  lands  when  the  Revolution 
opened,  denied  the  request,  but  congress  granted  it. 
Simms's  petition  was  granted,  but  only  because  his  being 
in  the  service  of  his  country  prevented  him  from  mak- 
ing such  improvements  as  would  have  secured  for  him 
a  like  quantity  of  land.  So  great  was  the  opposition 
which  his  petition  encountered  that  General  William 
Croghan  and  others  interested  in  Croghan's  lands  de- 
cided not  to  present  similar  petitions.444 

Having  disposed  of  claims  to  millions  of  acres  of 
lands  within  her  charter  limits,  Virginia  now  pro- 
ceeded to  outline  a  western  land  policy  which  would 
gather  the  fruits  of  her  investment  of  blood  and  treas- 
ure in  the  military  expeditions  of  George  Rogers  Clark 
and  others.  Resolutions  were  passed  by  its  legislature 
in  1779,  reaffirming  those  passed  in  1776.     They  went 

444  William  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Aug.  22,  1779,  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  i, 
65;  Wharton:  Plain  Facts,  115;  Byars:  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  188;  Wm.  Cro- 
ghan to  M.  Gratz,  Feb.  7,  1780,  in  N.Y.  Public  Library. 


3  1 2       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


further  and  claimed  for  Virginia  all  lands  within  her 
limits  which  had  belonged  to  the  crown.  The  door 
was  closed  to  all  further  petitions  from  Croghan  and 
the  land  companies  when  the  legislature  declared 
"utterly  void  and  of  no  effect"  the  deed  for  Indiana 
and  all  similar  Indian  deeds  which  had  been  or  might 
be  issued  to  or  for  the  benefit  of  any  private  person  or 
persons.  New  counties  were  now  organized  in  the 
West  and  the  legislature  passed  laws  which  provided 
for  the  sale  and  patenting  of  western  lands  in  accord- 
ance with  conditions  laid  down  or  with  conditions  pre- 
viously recognized  as  legal  in  Virginia. 

The  last  recourse  left  for  Croghan,  the  Indiana 
Company,  the  United  Illinois-Wabash  Company,  and 
for  the  American  promoters  of  Vandalia  was  to  appeal 
to  the  new  central  government  as  represented  by  the 
continental  congress.  The  boundary  dispute  between 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  was  taken  up  in  this  body 
for  settlement  and  the  settlers  along  the  upper  Ohio, 
confronted  by  chaos  and  revolution,  also  appealed  to  it* 

Croghan  had  incurred  the  ill-will  of  the  settlers 
because  of  his  large  land  claims,  his  associations  with 
land  companies,  and  his  consideration  for  the  Indians. 
He  reciprocated  their  attitude  for  to  him  they  were 
"the  rabble"  making  him  endless  trouble  in  his  land 
affairs.445  Many  of  the  settlers  wished  to  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  law  and  order,  and  to  them  it  was  of  minor 
importance  whether  their  land  titles  emanated  from 
Croghan,  the  Indiana  Company,  Pennsylvania,  or  Vir- 
ginia, or  whether  the  laws  under  which  they  lived  were 
made  by  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  or  Vandalia.  As  one 
way  out  of  the  difficulties,  a  number  of  the  settlers  sent 

445  Croghan  to  Haldimand,  Oct.  4,  1773,  in  Haldimand  Coll.,  ser.  B, 
70:  269;  McClure:    Diary,  101 ;  Pa.  Arch.,  iv,  619. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  313 

a  memorial  to  congress  in  1776,  asking  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  state,  Westsylvania.  In  their  memorial  they 
stated  that  the  Pennsylvania-Virginia  boundary  dispute 
had  resulted  in  Enumerable  Frauds,  Impositions, 
Violences,  Depredations,  Feuds,  Animosities,  Divi- 
sions, Litigations,  Disorders",  with  civil  war  threaten- 
ing. They  feared  that  a  bloody  Indian  war  would 
result  from  the  land  operations  carried  on  by  Virgin- 
ians. "There  are  a  number  of  private  or  other  claims 
to  Lands  within  the  Limits  of  this  Country  equally 
embarrassing  and  perplexing",  continued  the  mem- 
orial; "George  Croghan  Esquire  in  various  Tracts, 
claims  Land  ...  on  which  are  Settled  already 
150  or  200  Families;  Major  William  Trent  on  Behalf 
of  himself  and  the  Traders,  .  .  .  claims  another 
large  Tract  containing  at  least  4,000,000  of  acres 
.  .  .  on  which  1500  or  2000  Families  are  already 
settled  .  .  .  [Vandalia]  rich  fertile  and  healthy 
even  beyond  Credibility  is  peopled  by  at  least  25,000 
Families."  These  persons  came  west  amid  great  hard- 
ships and  sacrifices  in  search  of  freedom,  liberty,  and  a 
livelihood  and  they  objected  to  being  "Enslaved  by  any 
set  of  Proprietary  or  other  Claimants,  or  arbitrarily 
deprived  and  robbed  of  those  Lands  and  that  Country 
to  which  by  the  Laws  of  Nature  and  of  Nations  they 
are  entitled  as  first  Occupants."  446 

Partly  as  a  result  of  such  remonstrances,  but  more 
largely  because  of  the  necessity  of  utilizing  all  their 
strength  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  congress  urged 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  to  settle  their  boundary 
controversy.  The  dispute  dragged  on,  however,  and 
when  George  Rogers  Clark  tried  to  enlist  recruits  for 
his  western  expedition  at  Pittsburg  he  received  but 

446  This  Memorial  is  found  in  the  Yeates  mss. 


314       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

little  support  from  the  Pennsylvania  adherents.  His 
recruits  were  referred  to  as  "armed  banditti"  in  reports 
to  the  supreme  council  of  Pennsylvania.  Finally,  in 
1780,  the  present  boundary  line  was  agreed  upon. 
Great  difficulty  was  encountered  in  settling  land  titles 
for  it  was  provided  that  they  should  be  based  on  grants 
made  by  either  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia,  depending 
upon  which  grants  were  first  made.  The  extension  of 
the  western  boundary  line  of  Pennsylvania  beyond  her 
charter  limits  threw  the  whole  of  Croghan's  Indian 
grant  within  Pennsylvania.  After  1780,  Croghan  and 
those  to  whom  he  had  conveyed  lands  hoped  to  secure 
recompense  elsewhere  in  the  West  from  congress. 

Croghan,  the  Indiana  Company,  the  Illinois-Wabash 
Company,  and  the  American  promoters  of  Vandalia  all 
memorialized  congress  for  recognition  of  their  claims. 
Should  it  not  prove  feasible  to  secure  their  original 
land  claims  they  hoped  to  secure  substitute  land  grants 
elsewhere  in  the  West.  Their  cause  was  still  a  hope- 
ful one.  Shares  in  the  Indiana  Company  were  adver- 
tised for  sale  and  brought  when  sold  about  twenty  per 
cent  of  their  estimated  face  value; 447  Croghan's  deeds 
were  still  being  drawn  up  and  accepted  in  partial  pay- 
ment of  his  debts. 

It  was  self-evident  that  these  memorials  would  be  of 
no  avail  unless  the  rights  of  the  crown  to  western  lands 
passed  to  congress  as  the  central  government  instead  of 
to  the  individual  states.     Hence  the  memorials  were 

447  Pa.  Gazette,  July  7,  1779;  Morgan  to  John  Gibson,  Jan.  5,  1779,  m 
George  Morgan's  Letter  Bk.  Indiana  also  found  a  place  on  some  con- 
temporary maps.  A  French  edition  of  Hutchins:  Topographical  descrip- 
tion of  Va.,  Pa.,  Md.  and  Car.,  dated  1781,  included  a  map  entitled  "Carte 
des  Environs  du  Fort  Pitt  et  de  la  Nouvelle  Province  Indiana"  which 
showed  Indiana  in  colors.  Morse's  Universal  Geography  (1793)  and 
Guthrie's  A  New  System  of  Modern   Geography,  both  described  Indiana. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  315 

inevitably  drawn  into  the  great  and  bitter  conflict 
going  on  in  congress  over  the  disposition  of  the  West. 
In  it,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  other  states  that 
had  no  western  land  claims  were  arrayed  against  Vir- 
ginia and  those  that  had  such  claims.  For  a  time  it 
seemed  that  this  struggle  would  wreck  the  plans  for 
a  union  under  the  articles  of  confederation.  The  states 
with  no  western  land  claims  welcomed  the  memorials 
of  the  land  companies  because  they  could  be  used  to 
assist  them  in  their  struggle  to  force  the  states  with 
such  claims  to  cede  them  for  the  common  benefit  of  all 
the  states.  The  representatives  of  the  land  companies 
were  men  of  political  experience  ready  to  use  every 
means  to  secure  their  claims;  they  held  out  the  oppor- 
tunity for  personal  gain  to  influence  members  of 
congress. 

The  brunt  of  the  attack  again  fell  upon  the  Indiana 
Company.  After  its  petition  to  the  legislature  of 
Virginia  had  been  denied,  it  sent  a  memorial  to  con- 
gress dated  September  11,  1779.  This  recited  the 
claims  of  the  union  to  western  lands,  pointed  out  that 
Virginia  being  an  interested  party  could  not  pass  judg- 
ment upon  the  questions  involved,  and  asked  congress 
to  request  Virginia  to  delay  opening  its  land  offices 
until  Virginia  and  the  Indiana  Company  could  both 
be  heard  before  congress.  On  October  30,  congress 
passed  a  resolution  earnestly  requesting  Virginia  to 
reconsider  her  decision  to  open  land  offices  and  request- 
ing all  states  having  western  land  claims  to  forbear 
settling  or  issuing  warrants  for  unappropriated  lands 
until  the  war  had  ended.  The  legislature  of  Virginia 
remonstrated  against  such  interference  in  her  affairs 
and  especially  to  the  arrogation  by  congress  of  the 
right  of  adjudication  in  such  disputes.     The  Indiana 


3 1 6       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Company  soon  sent  a  second  memorial  to  congress  in- 
viting congress  to  decide  its  case  and  requesting  it  to 
appoint  a  time  for  hearing  all  parties  interested.448  In 
the  same  year,  1780,  congress  requested  the  states  hav- 
ing western  land  claims  to  surrender  a  liberal  portion 
thereof  to  the  confederacy  for  the  common  benefit  of 
all  of  its  members. 

Virginia  made  such  a  cession  in  1781,  but  attached 
to  it  so  many  conditions  that  it  was  not  favorably  re- 
ceived ;  one  of  these  conditions  stated  that  all  purchases 
made  within  the  cession  by  private  persons  from  the 
Indians  were  to  be  null  and  void.  A  committee  of 
congress  was  appointed  to  consider  the  cessions  made 
by  Virginia,  New  York,  and  Connecticut;  to  it  were 
also  referred  the  petitions  of  the  Indiana  and  the 
Illinois-Wabash  Companies,  of  the  Vandalia  group, 
and  of  Croghan.  All  felt  that  a  crisis  had  now  been 
reached  and  that  not  merely  the  interests  of  land  com- 
panies, but  that  the  union  itself  was  at  stake.  Decisions 
were  about  to  be  made  which  were  to  have  far  reaching 
influences  upon  the  nature  of  the  political  union  of  the 
states  and  upon  the  western  policy  to  be  followed  dur- 
ing the  territorial  expansion  of  the  new  nation. 

Three  important  documents,  all  advocating  the  cause 
of  the  memorialists  and  of  the  nationalization  of  the 
West,  appeared  in  1780  and  1781.  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin sent  his  "Passy  Memorial"  to  Congress  from  Passy, 
France.  It  was  read  in  Congress  on  March  16,  1781. 
It  recounted  the  history  of  the  Vandalia  project  begin- 
ning with  the  year  1768  and  made  a  calm,  restrained 
plea  for  justice.449     In  1780,  there  appeared  in  Phila- 

448  Documents  relating  to  Indiana,  etc.,  9-23. 

449  The  Passy  Memorial  is  found  in  the  Papers  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, No.  77,  folios  167-205. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  317 

delphia  a  pamphlet  written  by  Thomas  Paine,  the  most 
popular  and  influential  pamphleteer  of  the  Revolution, 
entitled  "Public  Good:  Being  an  Examination  into 
the  Claim  of  Virginia  to  the  Vacant  Western  Territory, 
and  of  the  Right  of  the  United  States  to  the  Same;  to 
Which  is  Added  Proposals  for  Laying  off  a  New  State, 
to  be  Applied  as  a  Fund  for  Carrying  on  the  War  or 
Redeeming  the  National  Debt/'  Interesting  infer- 
ences can  be  drawn  from  the  fact  that  Thomas  Paine 
was  soon  listed  as  owning  300  shares  in  the  Indiana 
Company.450  Finally,  there  appeared  an  anonymous 
pamphlet  entitled  Plain  Facts  written  by  Samuel 
Wharton.  It  massed  historical  data  beginning  with  the 
discovery  of  America  in  support  of  the  petition  of  the 
Indiana  Company  and  was  written  in  a  clear  forceful 
style.  A  new  committee  of  congress  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  consider  the  problems  involved.  It  held 
meetings  with  the  delegates  of  New  York,  Connecticut, 
and  Virginia  and  it  also  met  with  the  agents  of  Cro- 
ghan  and  the  three  companies  and  examined  their 
deeds,  vouchers,  and  other  papers.  The  Virginia  dele- 
gates were  invited  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  com- 
mittee, but  refused  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
congress  in  the  matter.  They  demanded  a  roll  call  in 
congress  in  which  every  delegate  would  declare  upon 
his  honor  whether  or  not  he  was  personally  interested 
in  the  claims  of  any  company  involved.  They  also 
fought  to  prevent  congress  from  acting  in  the  matter. 
Finally,  on  May  1,  1782,  the  committee  made  an  im- 
portant report.  It  recommended  that  congress  accept 
the  cession  of  New  York,  that  it  request  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  to  cede  their  western  land  claims,  and 

450  Gratz  Pap.,  2nd  ser.,  1,  105.     "Public  Good"  is  printed  in  the  Writings 
of  Thomas  Paine,  edited  by  Conway. 


3 1 8       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

that  the  cession  of  Virginia  be  rejected  and  Virginia 
requested  to  make  a  more  acceptable  cession.  One 
condition  of  Virginia's  cession  had  stated  that  all  pur- 
chases from  the  Indians  by  private  persons  should  be 
deemed  and  declared  absolutely  void  and  of  no  effect. 

The  committee  also  reported  that  "the  purchases  of 
Colonel  Croghan  and  the  Indiana  Company  were  made 
bona  fide  for  a  valuable  consideration,  according  to  the 
then  usage  and  custom  of  purchasing  lands  from  the 
Indians,  with  the  knowledge,  consent  and  approbation 
of  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  [and]  the  then  govern- 
ments of  New  York  and  Virginia.  .  ."  No  stronger 
recommendation  for  a  land  grant  by  congress  could 
have  been  desired  by  these  two  parties.  The  case  of 
Vandalia  was  complicated  because  both  alien  enemies 
and  loyal  citizens  were  affected  and  because  the  lands 
involved  were  so  vast  in  extent;  however,  the  commit- 
tee recommended  that  all  citizens  be  granted  lands 
sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  they  had  incurred  in 
connection  with  this  project,  on  condition  that  those 
interested  in  Vandalia  relinquish  all  their  claims.  The 
committee  also  recommended  that  the  petition  of  the 
Illinois-Wabash  Company  be  dismissed  because  of  the 
irregular  manner  in  which  its  purchases  had  been  made 
from  the  Indians.  The  report  closed  by  urging  fed- 
eral control  of  Indian  affairs,  especially  in  the  purchas- 
ing of  lands,  and  the  creation  of  new  states  in  the 
West.451 

Finally,  in  1784,  Virginia  made  an  acceptable  ces- 
sion of  all  her  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  This 
fact,  together  with  her  bitter  hostility  to  the  petitions 
of  the  land  companies  and  Croghan,  and  the  low  estate 

451  Journals  of  the  Continental  Congress  (Library  of  Congress  ed.),  xxn, 
223-229;   Rowland,  Kate:    Life  of  George  Mason. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  319 

into  which  congress  had  fallen,  made  it  impossible  to 
secure  favorable  action  upon  the  petitions.  They  were 
sacrificed  in  the  interests  of  the  union.  Left  in  posses- 
sion of  Kentucky,  Virginia  was  willing,  however,  to 
make  large  land  grants  to  individuals  like  the  Gratzs 
who  had  been  among  the  petitioners.  The  Vandalia 
and  Illinois-Wabash  Companies  appear  to  have  given 
up  further  attempts  to  secure  action  by  the  continental 
congress,  but  the  heirs  of  Croghan  and  the  Indiana 
Company  continued  to  send  petitions  and  memorials 
to  congress.452 

The  inauguration  of  a  strong  national  government 
in  1789  provided  a  new  method  for  seeking  redress. 
George  Mason,  in  opposing  the  ratification  of  the  fed- 
eral constitution  in  the  Virginia  convention,  had 
pointed  out  that  under  it  the  large  land  companies 
would  be  able  to  reopen  their  cases  and  overthrow  the 
security  of  western  settlers.  The  Indiana  Company 
once  more  took  the  initiative  in  fighting  for  a  principle 
which,  if  established,  would  also  be  applicable  to  Cro- 
ghan's  case.  The  company  first  sent  a  memorial  to  the 
Virginia  legislature  in  1790  and  asked  it  to  reconsider 
the  decision  it  had  made  in  1779.  When  Virginia 
refused,  the  company  proceeded  to  bring  its  case  before 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  as  a  matter  of 
original  jurisdiction  in  equity.  The  case  became 
known  as  Grayson  vs  Virginia  because  William  Gray- 
son was  the  first  of  the  shareholders  named.  A  sum- 
mons to  appear  as  defendant  was  served  on  Virginia  in 
1792,  but  Virginia  failed  to  respond.  In  1796,  the 
court  therefore  decided  the  important  point  that  in 

452  Such  memorials  are  found  in  the  Papers  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
No.  32  f.  159;  No.  41,  Vol.  3,  f.  493;  No.  41,  Vol.  x,  f.  87-90  and  99-105. 
Cf.  Gratz  Pap.,  2nd  ser.,  11  42;  Ohio.  Co.  mss.,  II,  71;  and  Journals  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  xxiv,  332. 


320       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

such  cases  process  should  be  served  upon  the  governor 
and  attorney-general  and  in  case  of  no  answer  being 
received  within  sixty  days,  to  proceed  ex  parte.  The 
court  was  relieved  of  its  difficulty  when  the  eleventh 
amendment  to  the  constitution,  which  deprived  it  of 
jurisdiction  in  cases  where  individuals  sued  a  state, 
became  law  in  1798.  The  court  ruled  that  it  applied 
retroactively  and  on  February  14,  1798  it  ordered  the 
case  of  Grayson  vs  Virginia  dismissed  for  lack  of 
jurisdiction.  Accounts  of  the  losses  of  the  original 
members  of  the  company  and  of  the  expenses  incurred 
in  seeking  reimbursement,  were  still  kept  and  the  mem- 
bers bequeathed  their  shares  to  their  heirs;  after  1798, 
however,  the  name  "Indiana"  gradually  disappeared 
south  of  the  Ohio  on  contemporary  maps,  but  it  soon 
reappeared  north  of  the  Ohio.453 

Thus  Croghan  and  his  associates  had  failed  in  their 
attempts  to  secure  recognized  legal  titles  to  thousands 
of  acres  on  the  Ohio.  They  had  failed  to  secure  ac- 
quiescence in  the  principle  of  the  Camden-Yorke  opin- 
ion, or  a  grant  from  Virginia,  or  a  grant  from  the  con- 
tinental congress,  or  a  favorable  decision  from  the 
newly  created  supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 
With  much  forethought  and  energy  they  had  followed 
in  turn  each  of  these  possible  ways  of  achieving  their 
aims.  They  had  labored  long  to  enlist  every  available 
influence  and  had  spent  large  sums  of  money  for  the 
fulfillment  of  their  plans;  but  all  the  time  and  money 
invested  failed  to  bring  them  personal  returns.  After 
1775,  western  land  problems  became  involved  with  the 
establishment  of  the  new  American  nation  and  with 


453  Documents  relating  to  Indiana,  etc.,  10-24;  Dallas,  A.  J.:  Reports  of 
cases  ruled  and  adjudged  in  the  several  courts  of  the  United  States,  etc.,  ill, 
320;  Docket  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  U.S.,  A  p.  14. 


LONDON  AND  WILLIAMSBURG  32 1 

Spanish,  French,  and  English  diplomatic  policies.  As 
a  result,  they  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  men  like  Cro- 
ghan  and  Wharton,  whose  interests  were  primarily 
economic,  and  into  the  hands  of  diplomats  and  states- 
men, whose  interests  were  primarily  political.  Though 
suffering  personal  defeat,  Croghan  and  his  associates 
had  exerted  a  permanent  influence  in  the  founding  and 
the  extension  of  the  present  map  of  the  United  States. 


Last  Years,  1775-1782 

Croghan  lived  to  see  the  end  of  the  struggle  for 
American  independence.  He  displayed  but  little  in- 
terest in  the  revolutionary  movement  from  1763  to 
1775.  During  this  period  it  was  confined  chiefly  to 
the  eastern  seaboard,  whereas  Croghan  spent  most  of 
this  period  in  the  West.  During  the  Stamp  Act  agi- 
tation, for  example,  he  was  engaged  in  his  mission  to 
the  far  of!  Illinois  country.  References  to  revolution- 
ary disturbances  were  rarely  made  by  him  in  his  corres- 
pondence; if  he  did  comment  on  them,  it  was  only  as  a 
bystander.  To  him  the  Boston  Massacre  was  a  "fray 
in  Boston"  which  manifested  a  popular  dislike  of  the 
imperial  army  and  a  troublesome  outlook.454 

During  these  years  the  idea  of  independence  was  to 
Croghan  unthinkable,  just  as  it  was  to  practically  all 
Americans.  His  long  and  loyal  service  to  his  king  and 
his  close  associations  with  other  royal  officials  made  it 
difficult  for  him  to  take  any  other  attitude.  He  re- 
garded the  revolutionary  disturbances  as  only  tempor- 
ary and  as  unfortunate.  Non-importation  agreements 
meant  chaos  in  the  Indian  trade  and  therefore  in 
Indian  affairs;  beyond  this  Croghan  did  not  appear  to 
have  foreseen.  The  disruption  of  much  of  his  life 
work  by  the  attempt  of  both  the  English  and  the 
Americans  after  1775  to  enlist  the  active  support  of  the 
Indians  was  still  hidden  in  the  future.  Moreover,  all 
of  Croghan's  extensive  land  operations  were  based  upon 
the  premise  of  continued  dependence  upon  England. 

454  Croghan  to  Johnson,  Apr.  8,  1770,  in  Johnson  mss.,  xviii,  268. 


324       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

When  the  break  came  in  1775,  many  of  Croghan's 
closest  relatives  and  associates  became  ardent  tories. 
Guy  and  John  Johnson,  the  successors  to  Sir  William 
Johnson,  with  Joseph  Brant,  the  Mohawk  chief  who 
had  married  Croghan's  Indian  daughter,  were  to  lead 
many  a  bloody  raid  on  the  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania frontiers.  Alexander  McKee,  Croghan's  chief 
assistant  and  successor,  changed  his  base  from  Pitts- 
burg to  Detroit  and  from  there  he  sent  forth  or  led 
Indian  war  parties  that  brought  fire  and  slaughter 
to  the  Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania  frontiers. 
Alexander  Ross  and  David  Franks,  Croghan's  close 
business  associates,  both  sought  refuge  within  the 
British  lines.  Dr.  John  Connolly,  Croghan's  nephew, 
was  captured  while  proceeding  in  disguise  to  Detroit. 
He  bore  messages  from  Gage  to  Dunmore  which  dealt 
with  the  sending  of  an  expedition  from  Detroit  to 
capture  Pittsburg  and  then  to  move  eastward  to  the 
coast,  thus  attempting  to  separate  the  northern  from 
the  southern  colonies.  Augustine  Prevost,  Croghan's 
son-in-law,  had  resumed  his  commission  in  the  British 
army;  he  became  a  captain  and  served  under  his  father, 
General  Prevost,  at  the  capture  of  Savannah  and 
Charleston.455  It  was  therefore  natural  that  Croghan 
should  be  suspected  of  being  a  tory.  His  enemies 
fostered  this  belief.  It  was  partly  on  this  account  that 
the  continental  congress,  when  it  took  charge  of  Indian 
affairs  in  1775,  disregarded  Croghan  when  it  appointed 
George  Morgan  as  agent  for  the  Middle  Department 
and  when  it  drew  up  plans  affecting  the  western 
tribes.456 


455  Draper  mss.,  16F76;  Byars:     B.  and  M.  Gratz,  199-200. 

456  William  Trent,  Croghan's  half  brother  and  partner  in  many  under- 
takings, was  charged  with  receiving  from  Lord  North  £40,000  to  be  used 


LAST  YEARS  325 


Croghan,  however,  cast  his  lot  with  the  colonists. 
When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  came  to  the 
settlers  on  the  upper  Ohio,  the  patriots  at  once  arranged 
for  public  meetings.  The  Pennsylvania  partisans  met 
at  Hanna's  Town  and  the  Virginia  partisans  at  Pitts- 
burg. The  latter  meeting  took  place  on  May  16,  1775, 
the  day  of  the  opening  of  the  Virginia  court.  Resolu- 
tions were  passed  approving  the  conduct  of  Massachu- 
setts in  "resisting  the  invaders  of  American  Rights  and 
Privileges  to  the  utmost  extreme."  A  committee  of 
correspondence  of  twenty-eight  members  was  appointed 
with  Croghan  as  chairman.  John  Campbell,  Edward 
Ward,  Dorsey  Pentecost,  Thomas  Smallman,  and  Wil- 
liam Crawford  were  among  his  associates.457 

This  committee,  like  the  numerous  similar  commit- 
tees scattered  throughout  the  colonies,  had  charge  of 
putting  its  community  upon  a  war  footing  and  of  pre- 
serving law  and  order.  It  placed  under  surveillance 
persons  suspected  of  being  tories  and  confined  some 
who  were  considered  tories.  Among  these  was  Alex- 
ander McKee.  Until  his  escape  two  years  later,  Mc- 
Kee  was  kept  in  confinement  under  the  direction  of 
Croghan  as  chairman  of  the  committee.458  General 
Carleton  in  Canada  was  sending  emissaries  among  the 
Indians  and  Croghan  feared  that  he  would  send  a 
strong  garrison  to  reoccupy  Fort  Pitt.459  To  combat 
this  movement  and  to  prepare  for  war,  the  committee 
cooperated  with  Morgan  in  holding  treaties  with  the 

to  incite  the  Indians  against  the  Americans.  -  Trent  to  Dr.  E.  Bancroft, 
Oct.  15,  1775,  in  C.  O.,  40  Cf.  Siebert,  William  H.:  "The  Tory  Proprie- 
tors of  Kentucky  Lands,"  in  O.  Arch,  and  Hist.  Pub.,  xxviii,  48fL  and  "The 
Tories  of  the  Upper  Ohio",  in  Biennial  Rep.,  Archives  and  Hist.,  W .  Va., 
I911-IQI4,  38ff. 

457  Pa.  Arch.,  6th  ser.,  11,  3;  Craig:    Hist,  of  Pittsburg,  128. 

458  French  Refugees,  66  and  69,  Dreer  Coll. 

459  Croghan  to  Trent  July  15,  1775,  in  Ohio  Co.  mss.,  ii,  6. 


326       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Indians.  It  also  secured  supplies  of  arms  and  ammu- 
nition and  raised  money.  In  spite  of  the  danger  of 
attacks  by  the  British  and  Indians,  two  regiments  were 
raised  and  sent  to  the  east.  Provision  was  made  for 
supporting  dependents  of  men  who  enlisted.  The  last 
service  rendered  by  Croghan  as  a  member  of  this  com- 
mittee appears  to  have  been  in  1777.  While  at  Wil- 
liamsburg in  that  year  he  helped  Governor  Patrick 
Henry  plan  the  defense  of  the  frontier.  Upon  his 
return  to  Pittsburg  he  carried  Henry's  letters  and 
dispatches  to  General  Hand.460 

Croghan's  services  to  the  patriot  cause  appear  to 
have  been  terminated  in  1777  because  he  fell  under  sus- 
picion of  being  a  tory.  After  1776,  in  all  the  states, 
the  lines  between  the  tories  and  whigs  were  much  more 
carefully  drawn.  Pennsylvania  passed  an  act  on  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1777,  defining  treason.  Another  act,  passed 
on  June  13,  1777,  required  all  adult  white  male  inhabi- 
tants to  take  an  oath  renouncing  all  allegiance  to  King 
George  III  and  pledging  allegiance  to  the  newly 
created  state.  On  March  6,  1778,  an  act  was  passed 
which  named  certain  prominent  citizens  as  tories  and 
commanded  them  to  appear  for  trial.  This  act  also 
authorized  the  supreme  executive  council  to  issue 
thereafter  proclamations  to  the  same  effect.  On  May 
29,  agents  were  appointed  in  each  county  to  take  charge 
of  confiscated  estates. 

On  June  15,  1778,  the  supreme  executive  council, 
exercising  its  newly  given  power,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion which  named  several  hundred  persons,  George 
Croghan  included,  as  having  "knowingly  and  willingly 

460  Henry  to  Hand,  Aug.  9,  1777,  in  Emmet  Coll.,  6144;  Thwaites  and 
Kellogg:    Frontier  Defense  of  the  Upper  Ohio,  30. 


LAST  YEARS  327 


aided  and  assisted  the  Enemies  of  the  State  and  of  the 
United  States  of  America",  and  commanded  them  to 
present  themselves  for  trial  before  August  1.  If  they 
failed  to  present  themselves  they  were  to  "stand  and  be 
attainted  of  High  Treason,  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
and  shall  suffer  such  pains  and  penalties  and  undergo 
all  such  forfeitures  as  persons  attainted  of  High 
Treason  ought  to  do."  461  On  June  28,  1779,  Croghan 
appeared  for  trial  and  was  discharged.462  In  a  confi- 
dential letter  to  Barnard  Gratz,  William  Trent  said : 
"I  am  sorry  the  People  were  so  foolish  as  to  use  Col. 
Croghan  so  ill,  as,  to  force  Him  to  go  to  Philada.  I 
am  of  Opinion  He  neither  could  be  of  any  Injury  to  the 
Country,  nor  would  be  if  He  had  it  in  his  Power."  463 
About  the  year  1778,  while  Croghan  was  suspected 
of  being  a  tory,  he  moved  his  place  of  residence  from 
Pittsburg  to  Lancaster.  Here,  in  his  old  age,  he  lived 
in  poverty.  He  depended  upon  the  Gratzs  and  Wil- 
liam Powell  to  supply  him  with  food,  clothing,  and 
money.  He  purchased  a  house  without  a  chimney  for 
his  residence  and  therefore  had  to  buy  an  English  open 
stove;  he  wrote  Michael  Gratz  that  this  left  him  in 
debt  and  "Not  a  Doller  to  pay  itt  with  or  go  to  Market 
with  till  I  hear  from  you."  "The  old  Gentn  is  much  in 
want",  was  the  comment  of  a  friend  when  he  relieved 
Croghan's  anxiety  by  paying  a  debt  amounting  to  but 

461  Pa.  Col.  Rec,  xi,  512-518;  Pa.  Evening  Post,  June  25,  1778.  This 
issue  of  the  Post  was  taken  up  almost  entirely  by  the  proclamation. 

462  Records  of  the  Courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  etc.,  Pa.  Arch.,  6th  ser., 
xiii,  475. 

463  Trent  to  Gratz,  Nov.  10,  1777,  in  Revolutionary  Pap.,  Colonial  Wars, 
12,  Etting  Coll.  Kingsford  {History  of  Canada,  IV,  24)  and  William  H. 
English  {Conquest  of  the  Country  Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,  etc.,  11, 
1003)  both  state  that  Croghan  was  a  tory.  Cf.  Cook:  Journals  of  the 
Expedition  of  Major  General  Sullivan,  etc.,  21. 


328       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ten  dollars.  In  1780,  Croghan  removed  to  Passyunk 
Township  which  today  lies  within  the  limits  of 
Philadelphia.464 

Until  1780,  Croghan  still  owned  thousands  of  acres 
of  land;  these  included  the  estates  known  as  Croghan 
Hall,  Croghan's  Forest,  and  Monckton  Hall.  Most 
of  his  property  was,  however,  heavily  mortgaged  and 
he  was  heavily  in  debt  besides.  He  held  his  lands  as 
long  as  it  was  at  all  possible,  because  there  was  still  a 
good  possibility  of  favorable  action  upon  his  mem- 
orials that  were  pending  before  the  continental  congress 
and  because,  as  long  as  the  Revolution  continued  and 
continental  currency  was  the  chief  medium  of  ex- 
change, lands  could  be  sold  only  at  a  sacrifice.  How- 
ever, such  a  business  situation  could  not  be  maintained 
indefinitely.  An  old  debt  to  Shippen  and  Lawrence 
dating  from  1754  from  which  Croghan  had  been  legally 
released,  but  which  he  still  intended  to  pay,  proved 
particularly  annoying  because  they  demanded  imme- 
diate payment  in  gold  or  silver.  Other  creditors,  re- 
fusing to  wait  longer,  brought  legal  actions  against 
Croghan.465 

Croghan  was  anxious  to  settle  his  business  affairs. 
"Time  you  know  flys  fast  away  and  a  Life  of  Suspence 
is  the  Most  Disagreeable  Life  in  the  World  to  Me",  he 
wrote  to  Barnard  Gratz  on  October  3,  1780.466  His 
indebtedness  to  the  Gratzs  during  this  period  fluctuated 
around  £4,000.     He  now  offered  them  their  choice  of 

464  Croghan  to  Gratz,  Nov.  22,  1779,  in  Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  I,  71;  Ohio 
Co.  mss.,  II,  26,  49,  60;  Byars:  B.  and  M.  Gratz,  185,  194;  Powell's  account 
with  Croghan's  estate,  1804,  Register  of  Wills,  Philadelphia. 

465  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Mar.  15,  1779,  in  McAllister  Coll.,  Y12,  7310 
F15;  Croghan  to  B.  Gratz,  Dec.  21,  1778,  MS.  in  N.Y.  Public  Library;  Gratz- 
Croghan  mss.,  i,  100  and  n,  3. 

466  Draper  mss.,  i  N49. 


LAST  YEARS  329 


everything  he  owned  to  settle  his  debt.  They  selected 
Croghan's  five  tracts  in  western  Pennsylvania  on  Se- 
wickly  Creek  totaling  1,488  acres.407  Monckton  Hall 
was  advertised  for  sale  in  1781  and  foreclosed  in  1783 
by  the  Burlington  Company. 

In  order  to  pay  an  old  debt  of  £2,100  which  he  owed 
to  Joseph  Wharton  and  to  provide  himself  with  food 
and  fuel  for  the  winter,  Croghan,  in  1780,  conveyed  to 
Wharton  the  remaining  26,634  acres  of  his  Otsego 
patent  in  New  York.  This  included  the  site  of  Cro- 
ghan's Forest  which  Croghan  had  selected  for  his  per- 
manent residence  eleven  years  before  and  which  he 
had  kept  to  the  last.  The  title  which  Wharton  had 
received  was  beclouded  by  Croghan's  mortgage  to 
Governor  William  Franklin  which  had  been  assigned 
to  the  Burlington  Company.  As  a  result,  Wharton 
lost  his  purchase  in  1786,  four  years  after  Croghan's 
death.468 

Governor  Franklin  also  lost  money  as  a  result  of  his 
relations  to  the  Otsego  lands.  He  held  a  mortgage  on 
these  lands  for  £1,800  and,  in  1772,  he  purchased  five 
of  the  ten  shares  of  the  Burlington  Company,  valued 
at  £1,500.  When  the  Revolution  came,  he  became  a 
loyalist  and  was  imprisoned;  later  he  moved  to  Eng- 
land. Because  all  of  his  papers  were  lost  in  a  New 
York  fire  and  because  he  had  been  a  tory,  Franklin 
gave  up  all  thought  of  recovering  his  loans.  In  the 
meantime,  the  remaining  original  members  of  the  Bur- 
lington Company  had  sold  their  shares  to  Andrew 
Craig  and  William  Cooper,  both  of  Burlington,  New 

467  Ohio   Co.  mss.,  II,  26,  48,   53. 

468  Joseph  Wharton  to  Samuel  Wharton,  Jan.  31,  1775,  in  Thomas 
Wharton's  Letter  Bk.,  1773-1784;  Croghan  to  M.  Gratz,  Nov.  22,  1779,  in 
Gratz-Croghan  mss.,  i,  71 ;  M.  Gratz  to  B.  Gratz,  Sept.  26,  1779,  m  Mc- 
Allister Coll.;  Bk.  of  Deeds,  xx,  306-315    (Sec.  of  State,  Albany). 


330       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Jersey.  The  latter  was  the  father  of  James  Fenimore 
Cooper,  the  novelist.  To  Cooper  and  Craig  were 
assigned  Franklin's  mortgages  on  40,000  acres  of  Cro- 
ghan's  Otsego  tract  and  on  his  Philadelphia  property, 
together  with  Croghan's  bond  and  the  judgment  fore- 
closing the  mortgages. 

Cooper  and  Craig,  taking  advantage  of  Franklin's 
situation,  hastily  proceeded  in  January,  1786,  to  ar- 
range for  the  sale  of  the  Otsego  lands  under  the  judg- 
ment of  1773  without  giving  any  notice  to  either  Frank- 
lin or  to  Croghan's  executors.  Appreciating  the  value 
of  the  prize  they  sought,  Cooper  and  Craig  engaged  as 
their  attorney,  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  secured  the 
writ  of  fieri  facias  to  issue  to  the  sheriff.  The  other 
creditors  of  Croghan,  his  heirs,  and  executors  likewise 
realized  what  was  at  stake  and  to  oppose  Hamilton, 
they  employed  Aaron  Burr.  Burr  obtained  an  injunc- 
tion to  stop  the  sale,  but  in  spite  of  it  the  sale  was  held. 
It  took  place  in  the  middle  of  winter  in  a  remote  local- 
ity. By  questionable  methods  Cooper  and  Craig 
themselves  purchased  the  Otsego  lands  for  only  £2,700. 
An  attempt  was  made  by  other  creditors  of  the  Cro- 
ghan estate  to  pay  their  claims  and  take  over  the  lands, 
but  this  attempt  was  unsuccessful.  Cooper  and  Craig 
found  their  title  complicated  because  Croghan  had 
conveyed  6,061  acres  in  their  tract  to  his  son-in-law, 
Prevost  and  26,634  acres  to  Joseph  Wharton.  To 
quiet  these  claims,  they  paid  Prevost  $1,250  and  Whar- 
ton $2,ooo.469  Cooper  played  the  leading  part  in  de- 
veloping the  lands  which  he  and  Craig  had  acquired. 
Previous  improvements  had  almost  all  disappeared  as 

469  When  Cooper  and  Craig  advertised  their  lands,  for  sale  in  the 
Pa.  Gazette,  Apr.  5,  12  and  19,  1786,  Barnard  Gratz,  as  Croghan's  execu- 
tor,  and  Dr.  John  Morgan  warned  prospective  purchasers  that  their  titles 


LAST  YEARS  33 1 


a  result  of  the  border  warfare  during  the  Revolution. 
Cooper  brought  in  many  New  England  settlers,  as  Cro- 
ghan  had  planned  to  do.  He  laid  out  the  town  of 
Cooperstown  on  the  site  selected  by  Croghan  for  his 
residence  and  built  there  his  famous  mansion,  Otsego 
Hall.470  Here  on  the  frontier,  his  son,  Fenimore,  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  success  as  a  novelist.  The  lands 
soon  rose  twenty  fold  in  value,  and  the  elder  Cooper 
made  the  fortune  and  reaped  the  profits  which  Croghan 
had  the  vision  to  forsee,  but  which  he  never  realized. 
The  Prevost  heirs  and  Franklin  came  to  feel  very 
bitter  toward  Cooper.  Augustine  Prevost,  Jr.,  wrote 
Franklin  on  December  31,  181 2:  "We  have  lost  an 
immense  property  from  the  infamous  advantage  taken 
by  Cooper  and  others  without  your  knowledge  by  a 
forced  Sale  under  your  Title."  When  the  elder  Pre- 
vost met  Franklin  in  London  in  1791,  they  agreed  to 
attempt  to  recover  Franklin's  debts  of  £3,300  with 
interest  amounting  to  over  £8,000  and  also  the  lands 

would  not  be  good.  Morgan  and  Gratz's  articles,  with  the  replies  by 
Cooper  and  Craig,  in  the  Pa.  Gazette,  May  3,  17,  and  June  7,  1786,  give 
much  information  concerning  Croghan's  New  York  lands. 

The  William  Temple  Franklin  mss.  contain  a  large  number  of  letters  and 
legal  papers  dating  from  1786  to  1815  and  present  Franklin's  side  of  the 
case.  Cooper's  side  is  presented  in  James  Fenimore  Cooper's  Chronicles 
of  Cooperstoivn,  written  in  1838  from  original  documents  in  the  possession 
of  the  Cooper  family.  Cooper  omits,  however,  all  reference  to  the  Hamilton- 
Burr  episode  and  to  the  attempts  of  Franklin  and  the  Prevosts  to  have  the 
sale  of  1786  declared  illegal.  Instead,  Cooper  presents  figures  to  show  that 
the  lands  cost  Cooper  and  Craig  a  fair  price  and  that  Croghan  and  his 
family  received  more  than  $40,000  for  them,  which  was  five  times  their 
value  at  Croghan's  death.  To  reach  this  conclusion  Joseph  Wharton's  loan 
of  £2,100  is  listed  in  Pennsylvania  paper  money  of  1780  as  £9,553.  More- 
over, the  year  1782  was  hardly  a  good  year  in  which  to  value  fairly  New 
York  frontier  lands.     Cf.  Land  Pap.,  xxxvin,  34  and  xlix,  68. 

470  Judge  William  Cooper's  long  letter  (cir.  1806)  to  William  Sampson, 
an  Englishman,  was  published  under  the  title  of  Guide  in  the  Wilderness, 
etc.  It  describes  his  land  operations  and  also  those  of  his  contemporaries  in 
central  New  York. 


332       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

which  had  been  lost  to  Prevost.  Suits  for  ejectment 
were  brought,  but  no  judicial  opinion  upon  the  title  to 
the  entire  tract  could  be  secured  because  judgment  was 
always  entered  by  default  against  the  settlers.  Their 
frontier  spirit  and  common  interests  made  them 
stronger  than  the  laws  and  courts  and  prevented  eject- 
ment. Moreover,  a  dispute  arose  between  Franklin 
and  the  Prevosts  as  to  the  proper  division  of  risks, 
expenses,  and  possible  returns.  Though  the  best  attor- 
neys were  engaged,  A.  J.  Dallas,  later  Secretary  of  the 
United  States  Treasury,  being  one,  and  though  these 
believed  that  their  clients  had  "an  incontrovertible 
right  to  recover",  all  that  the  Prevosts  and  Franklin 
could  do  was  to  bequeath  to  their  heirs  their  equity  in 
Croghan's  estate  in  New  York.  Of  the  250,000  acres 
which  Croghan  had  once  owned,  only  one  half  of  Bel- 
vedere consisting  of  9,000  acres  remained  for  his 
daughter  and  grandchildren.  Croghan  Hall,  the  val- 
uable plantation  near  the  rising  city  of  Pittsburg  where 
Croghan  had  spent  so  much  of  his  life,  was  also  lost 
after  Croghan's  death  through  the  foreclosure  of  mort- 
gage holders. 

Croghan  escaped  seeing  his  estates  crumble  away. 
He  kept  his  faith  in  the  West  to  the  last  and  lived  long 
enough  to  hear  of  the  favorable  report  which  the  com- 
mittee of  the  continental  congress  had  made  relative  to 
his  land  claim  near  Pittsburg  and  to  the  claims  of  the 
Indiana  and  Vandalia  interests.  He  died  on  August 
31,  1782,  at  his  residence  in  Passyunk.  His  funeral 
took  place  at  the  Episcopal  Church  of  St.  Peter's  in 
Philadelphia.  Of  his  last  days  and  death,  we  have 
only  the  cold,  bare,  legal  records  to  tell  us  the  story.471 

471  Croghan's  Will,  along  with  the  Deposition  of  Powell  in  1804,  Powell's 
Account  of  his  Relations  to  Croghan's  Estate,  1804,  a  List  of  Legal  Papers 


LAST  YEARS  333 

The  inventory  of  his  personal  property  taken  after 
his  death  shows  that  he  possessed  few  of  the  comforts 
of  life.  The  total  value  of  his  personal  property  was 
placed  at  £50,  13s.  6d.  Among  the  interesting  items 
were  the  following: 

£       s.        d. 

1   Feather  bed  and  1  pillow 2  10         O 

1   pair  coarse  sheets 1  10         O 

1  pair  shoes o         10         O 

1   Coat,  2  Jackets,  1  pair  of  Breeches 2  00 

1  pewter  dish 050 

9  ditto  plates 1  00 

1  Old  Pinchbeck  Watch 3  5         o 

1  Old  Antediluvian  coach  or  Waggon  with 

Harness 300 

Croghan's  will  named  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz, 
Thomas  Smallman,  William  Powell,  and  James  Innis 
as  his  executors  with  power  to  act  only  with  the  consent 
of  Barnard  Gratz.  They  were  directed  to  sell  suffi- 
cient lands  to  pay  his  funeral  expenses  and  all  debts. 
Bequests  of  from  1,000  to  5,000  acres  located  in  his 
Indian  grant  near  Pittsburg  were  made  to  those  who 
had  cared  for  him  in  his  last  years  and  to  the  Gratzs 
and  some  kinsmen.  The  residue  of  his  estate  was  left 
to  his  daughter,  Susannah  Prevost.  The  task  of  the 
executors  was  most  difficult.  Many  spurious  claims 
were  made  against  the  estate.  Croghan's  heirs,  exe- 
cutors, and  creditors,  and  the  occupants  or  claimants  of 
his  lands  were  involved  in  innumerable  and  compli- 
cated suits ;  many  of  these  were  not  finally  decided  till 

left  by  Croghan,  and  the  Inventory  of  Croghan's  Personal  Estate,  are 
preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  Wills,  Philadelphia.  Cf.  Records 
of  Wills,  Bk.  A,  29-35,  Clerk  of  Court  of  Appeals,  Albany  Co.,  N.Y. ; 
Ohio  Co.  mss.,  11,  61,  115.  Volume  11  of  the  Gratz-Croghan  mss.  gives  many 
documents  concerning  his  estate  after  his  death. 


334       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

they  reached  the  supreme  courts  of  Pennsylvania  and 
the  United  States  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  place  of  Croghan's  burial  remains  unknown; 
no  tombstone,  tablet,  or  monument  perpetuates  his 
name.  Historians  have  generally  neglected  his  work 
entirely,  or  have  barely  mentioned  his  name.  In  con- 
trast, Daniel  Boone,  a  much  less  important  figure  in  the 
history  of  the  West,  has  been  apotheosized.  The 
average  student  of  American  history  is  acquainted  with 
Braddock,  Pontiac,  and  Boone,  but  not  with  Croghan. 
Judged  by  material  standards  he  was  a  failure;  yet  he 
was  one  of  the  most  persuasive,  persistent,  and  influ- 
ential of  the  great  American  pioneers  of  his  period  and 
he  typified,  not  the  abnormal,  but  the  normal  develop- 
ment of  society. 

Insofar  as  any  one  man  can  influence  history,  Croghan 
had  much  to  do  with  laying  the  foundations  upon  which 
George  Rogers  Clark,  the  American  diplomats  at  Paris 
in  1783,  and  the  authors  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  built. 
His  dreams  helped  to  inspire  such  younger  men  as 
Daniel  Clark,  John  Campbell,  Dorsey  Pentecost,  Wil- 
liam Thompson,  Barnard  and  Michael  Gratz,  and 
William  Croghan  to  carry  on  similar  work  on  more 
distant  frontiers.  He  encountered  two  great  forces; 
first,  the  desire  of  the  white  man  for  the  profits  of  the 
Indian  trade  and  the  reciprocal  desire  of  the  Indian 
for  the  white  man's  goods,  and  second,  the  irresistible 
westward  movement  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  settler. 
These  forces  were  affected  by  the  rivalry  of  England 
and  France,  by  political  troubles  between  England  and 
her  colonies,  and  by  mutual  jealousies  between  the 
colonies  or  states. 

In  his  land  operations  Croghan  touched  the  lives  of 


LAST  YEARS  335 


many  prominent  Americans  and  he  influenced  the  lives 
of  numerous  unknown  settlers.  He  helped  to  provide 
the  settlers  with  land  by  helping  to  eliminate  the  claims 
of  the  Indians,  by  surveying  the  land,  by  patenting  it, 
by  beginning  the  clearing  of  forests,  by  laying  out 
roads,  by  beginning  the  erection  of  houses,  sawmills, 
and  gristmills,  by  advertising  and  marketing  the  land, 
and  by  supplying  the  necessary  capital  and  assuming 
great  risks.  His  viewpoint,  however,  belonged  to  the 
past  for  he  thought  in  terms  of  proprietary  colonies 
with  individualistic  control  over  land;  he  was  not  yet 
socialistic  enough  in  his  viewpoint  to  see  that  the  state 
would  make  a  better  landlord  than  an  individual  or 
a  land  company. 

George  Croghan,  Sir  William  Johnson,  Benjamin 
and  William  Franklin,  George  Washington,  and 
others,  in  their  great  land  operations,  performed  ser- 
vices for  the  small  settler  similar  to  those  which  after 
the  Revolution  were  performed  by  the  state  and  federal 
governments.  They  were  representative  Americans 
with  human  motives  -  one  of  which  is  for  amassing 
wealth ;  but  aside  from  this,  in  spite  of  it,  and  through 
it,  their  ideas  and  actions  had  a  social  significance  and 
influence.  They  were  not  mere  real  estate  dealers,  but 
rather  commonwealth  builders  who  gave  expression 
to  the  deep  impulses  of  American  life  to  seek  homes 
by  pushing  westward.  Their  immediate  purposes 
often  failed,  but  their  efforts  prepared  the  way  for 
their  successors  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labors. 

Croghan  and  his  associates  dreamed  of  towns  and 
cities  and  commonwealths  teeming  with  people,  rising 
where  their  chain  carriers  were  running  their  lines. 
They  were  typical   pioneers  who   encountered   diffi- 


336       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

culties  and  made  sacrifices  because  they  saw  far  beyond 
their  own  generation  and  saw  as  certainties  what  could 
only  be  realized  many  years  later.  Croghan's  visions 
of  the  future  greatness  of  the  western  wilderness  have 
been  realized,  but  not  in  his  generation. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY  339 


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American  Historical  Review,  xxiv  (1919),  379ff. 

Crumrine,  Boyd,  editor:  "The  records  of  deeds  for  the  District 
of  West  Augusta,  Virginia,  for  the  court  held  at  Fort  Dunmore, 
[Pittsburgh]",  in  the  Annals  of  the  Carnegie  Museum  of  Pitts- 
burgh, in,  237fL 

:  "Minute  book  of  the  Virginia  court  held  at  Fort  Dun- 
more  for  the  District  of  West  Augusta,  1 775-1 776,"  in  idem,  1, 
524ff. 

:     "Minute  or  order  book  of  the  Virginia  court  held  for 


Yohogania  County,  first  at  Augusta  Town  and  afterwards  near 
West  Elizebeth,  1 776-1 780,"  in  idem,  II,  7 iff.,  and  2056°. 
:     "Minute  or  order  book  of  the  Virginia  court  held  for 


Ohio  County,  Virginia,  at  Black's  cabin,  1 777-1 780,"  in  idem,  ill, 
5«. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  341 


History  of  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania.     Phila- 


delphia, 1882. 
Dahlinger,  Charles  W. :     Pittsburgh,  a  sketch  of  its  early  social 

life.     New  York,  191 6. 
Dallas,  A.  J.,  compiler:     Reports  of  cases  ruled  and  adjudged  in 

the  several  courts  of  the  United  States  and  of  Pennsylvania  held 

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1 790- 1 799- 
Darlington,  Mary  C. :     Fort  Pitt  and  letters  from  the  frontier. 

Pittsburgh,  1892. 
:     History  of  Colonel   Henry  Bouquet   and   the  western 

frontiers  of  Pennsylvania,  1 747-1 764.     Pittsburgh,   1920. 
Darlington,  William  M.,  editor:     Christopher  Gist's  journals  with 

historical,  geographical,  and  ethnological  notes  and  biographies  of 

his  contemporaries.     Pittsburgh,  1893. 
Diffenderffer,    Frank    R. :     "Indian    traders'    troubles  -  Joseph 

Simon   and   his  associates  in   the  Indiana  or   'Suff'ring  Traders' 

grant,"  in  the  papers  of  the  Lancaster  County  Historical  Society, 

IX,  1  off. 
Dinwiddie,   Robert:     The   official    records   of   Robert    Dinwiddie, 

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Brock,    Virginia    Historical    Collections,    new   series,    111    and   iv. 

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Documents  respecting  the  claim  of  persons  therein  mentioned  to 

a  certain  tract  of  land  called  Indiana   [Ridgway  Library,  Phila- 
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Evans,  Lewis:     An  analysis  of  a  general  map  of  the  middle  British 

colonies  in  America,  etc.     Philadelphia,  1755. 
Force,  Peter,  editor:     American  archives     ...     a  documentary 

history  of     .     .     .     the  North  American  colonies    (1 774-1 776). 

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Franklin,   Benjamin:     Writings.     Edited   by  A.    H.   Smyth,    10 

vols.     New  York,  1907. 
Gentleman's  magazine,  223  vols.     London,  1 731-1868. 
Golder,  Frank  A.:     Russian  expansion  on  the  Pacific,  1641-1850. 

Cleveland,  191 4. 
Goodman,  Alfred  T.,  editor:     Journal  of  Captain  William  Trent 

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Halsey,  Francis  Whiting,   editor:     A  tour  of   four  great   rivers: 

the   Hudson,    Mohawk,    Susquehanna,   and    Delaware   in    1769- 


342       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

being  the  journal  of  Richard  Smith  of  Burlington,  New  Jersey. 
New  York,  1906. 
:     The  old  New  York  frontier,   161 4-1 800.     New  York, 


1912. 

Hamilton,  Stanislaus  Murray,  editor:  Letters  to  George  Wash- 
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York,  1898. 

Hanna,  Charles  A. :  The  wilderness  trail,  etc,  2  vols.  New  York, 
1911. 

Hassler,  Edward  W. :  Old  Westmoreland:  a  history  of  western 
Pennsylvania  during  the  revolution.     Pittsburgh,  1900. 

Hazard,  Samuel,  editor:  Register  of  Pennsylvania,  16  vols.  Philadel- 
phia, 1 828- 1 836. 

Henderson,  Archibald :  The  conquest  of  the  old  southwest.  New 
York,  1920. 

Hodge,  Frederick  W.,  editor:  Handbook  of  American  Indians 
north  of  Mexico.  Bulletin  30,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Smith- 
sonian  Institution.     Washington,    1907. 

Hough,  Franklin  B.,  editor:  Journal  of  Major  Robert  Rogers. 
Albany,  1883. 

Hulbert,  Archer  B.:  Historic  highways  of  America.  16  vols. 
Cleveland,  1 902-1 905. 

Hunter,  William:  "Observations  on  the  bones,  commonly  sup- 
posed to  be  elephants'  bones,  which  have  been  found  near  the 
River  Ohio  in  America,"  in  the  Philosophical  transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  lviii  (1768),  34ff. 

Hutchins,  Thomas:  A  topographical  description  of  Virginia, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  North  Carolina,  1778.  Edited  by 
F.  C.  Hicks.     Cleveland,  1904. 

:     Description  topographique   de  la  Virginie,   de  la   Pen- 

sylvanie,    du    Maryland    et    de    la    Caroline    septentrionale,    etc. 
Paris,   1 78 1. 

Illinois  Historical  Collections:  vol.  x,  The  critical  period,  1763- 
1765;  vol.  xi,  The  new  regime,  1765-1767;  vol.  xn,  trade  and 
politics,  1 767- 1 769  -  all  edited  by  C.  W.  Alvord,  and  C.  E.  Carter. 
Springfield,  111.,   1915-1923. 

Jackson,  George  B.:  "John  Stuart,  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  for  the  southern  district,  1763-1779/'  m  Tennessee  Histor- 
ical Magazine,  in  (1917))  1656°. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  343 


Jones,  Rev.  David:     A  journal  of  two  visits  made  to  some  nations 

of  Indians  on  the  west  side  of  the  River  Ohio  in  the  years  1772 

and  1773.     Edited  by  H.  G.  Jones.     New  York,  1865. 
Jones,    U.   J.:     History   of    the    early   settlement    of    the    Juniata 

valley.     Philadelphia,  1856. 
Kellogg,  Louise   Phelps:     The  French   regime  in  Wisconsin   and 

the  Northwest,  Madison,  1925. 
Keppel,  Thomas  R. :     Life  of  Augustus  Viscount  Keppel.     2  vols. 

London,  1842. 
Kimball,  Gertrude   S.,   editor:     Correspondence   of  William   Pitt    » 

with  colonial  governors  and  military  and  naval  commissioners  in 

America.     2  vols.     New  York,  1906. 
Kingsford,    William:     History    of    Canada.     10    vols.     Toronto, 

1887-1898. 
Klein,  Joseph:     Der  Sibirische  Peltzhandel  und  seine  Bedeutung 

fur  die  Eroberung  Sibiriens.     Bonn,  1906. 
Kohler,    Max    J.:     "The    Franks    family    as    British    army    con- 
tractors," in  American  Jewish  Historical  Society  publications,  XI 

(1903),  i8iff. 
Lytle,  Milton  S. :     History  of  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania. 

Lancaster,  1876. 
McClure,  Rev.  David:     Diary.     Edited  by  F.  B.  Dexter.     New 

York,  1899. 
McIlwain,   Charles    H.,    editor:     Wraxall's    abridgement   of   the 

New  York  Indian  records,   1678-1751.     Cambridge,    1915. 
Maryland    Historical    Society:     Archives.     Baltimore,    1883-date. 

The  correspondence  of  Governor  Horatio  Sharpe,   1 750-1 771,  is 

printed  in  volumes  vi,  ix,  and  xiv. 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Collections,  fourth  series,  vols. 

ix  and  x  (1871).     These  volumes  contain  the  "Aspinwall  papers". 
Michigan  Pioneer  and  Historical  Collections.  Lansing,   1877-date. 

In   volume   xix   there   are   printed   selections    from   the    Bouquet 

manuscripts  and  the  Haldimand  manuscripts. 
Mitchell,  J.  T.  and  Henry  Flanders,  compilers:     The  statutes  at 

large    of    Pennsylvania,    1682-1809.     Vols.    2-18.     Philadelphia, 

1896-1915. 
[Moreau,  Jacob  Nicolas]  :     Memoire  contenant  le  precis  des  faits, 

avec  leurs  pieces  justificatives,  pour  servir  de  reponse  aux  observa- 
tions envoyees  par  les  ministres  d'Angleterre,  dans  les  cours  de 

TEurope.     Paris,  1756. 


344       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

O'Callaghan,  Edmund  B.,  editor:  Documentary  history  of  the 
state  of  New  York.     4  vols.     Albany,  1 849-1 851. 

:     Documents  relative  to  the  colonial  history  of  the  state 

of  New  York.  15  vols.  Albany,  1856.  Cited  as  "N.Y.  Col. 
Docs."  in  footnotes. 

O'Neil,  James  L. :  "George  Croghan  and  Aughwick,  Hunting- 
don County,  Pennsylvania,"  in  American-Irish  Historical  Society, 
Journal,  ix  (1910),  348fL 

Page,  Richard  C.  M.:  Genealogy  of  the  Page  family  in  Virginia, 
etc.     New  York,  1883. 

Paine,  Thomas:  The  writings  of  Thomas  Paine.  Edited  by 
M.  D.  Conway.     4  vols.     New  York,  1894. 

Parkman,  Francis:  The  conspiracy  of  Pontiac  and  the  Indian 
war  after  the  conquest  of  Canada.  2  vols.  Sixth  Edition. 
Boston,  1870. 

:     Montcalm  and  Wolfe.     2  vols.     Boston,  1890. 

:     A  half  century  of  conflict.     2  vols.     Boston,  1892. 

Pennsylvania  Archives;  edited  by  Samuel  Hazard.  12  vols. 
Philadelphia,  1852-1856.  The  later  series,  second  to  seventh, 
are  less  important  than  the  volumes  edited  by  Hazard. 

Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records.  16  vols.  Edited  by  Samuel 
Hazard.  Philadelphia,  1852.  The  minutes  of  the  Provincial 
Council,  1 683- 1 776,  are  given  in  volumes  i-x;  volumes  x-xvi  give 
the  minutes  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  1 776-1 790. 

Pennsylvania,  Department  of  Internal  Affairs,  Land  Office ;  War- 
rantee atlas  of  Allegheny  County,  Pennsylvania.  Harrisburg, 
1914. 

Pennsylvania  Gazette,  1728- 1789. 

Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography.  Philadelphia, 
1877-date.  In  volume  II,  303fL,  and  vi,  344ff.,  there  are  given 
the  census  reports  for  Pittsburgh  in  1760  and  1761,  respectively; 
in  volume  xxiv,  17ft.,  there  is  an  article  on  "Old  Mother  Cum- 
berland"; in  volumes  xxxm,  3i9ff.  and  432fL  and  in  volumes 
xxxiv,  4  iff.,  there  are  printed  selections  from  the  letter  books  of 
Thomas  Wharton;  in  volume  xxxv,  4i5ff.,  there  are  printed  letters 
from  William  Franklin  to  William  Strahan,  and  on  pages  429ff. 
letters  of  George  Croghan;  in  volume  xxxn,  iff.,  I52ff.  and 
395ff.  there  is  printed  the  Journal  of  James  Kenny,  1 761-1763. 

[Pennsylvania]  Report  of  the  Commission  to  locate  the  sites  of  the 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  345 


frontier    forts    of    Pennsylvania.     Second    Edition.     Harrisburg, 

1916. 
[Pennsylvania]  Votes  and  proceedings  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives   [assembly]    of    the    province    of    Pennsylvania,    1682-1776. 

6  vols.     Philadelphia,  1 752-1 776. 
Perkins,  James  H.:     Annals  of  the  west,  etc.     Cincinnati,   1846. 
Rogers,  Robert:     Ponteach  or  the  savages  of  America,  a  tragedy. 

Edited  by  Allan  Nevins.     Chicago,   191 4. 
Rowland,  Kate  M.:     The  life  of  George  Mason,  1725-1792.     2 

vols.     New  York,  1892. 
Rupp,  Isaac  D.:     Early  history  of  western  Pennsylvania  and  the 

west,   1 754-1 833.     Pittsburg,   1846. 
Sargent,  Winthrop:     The  history  of  an  expedition  against  Fort 

DuQuesne    in    1755    under    Major-General    Edward    Braddock. 

Philadelphia,  1856. 
Severance,  Frank  H.:     An  old  frontier  of  France -the  Niagara 

region  and  adjacent  lakes  under  French  control.     2  vols.     New 

York,  1 91 7. 
Siebert,  William  H. :     "Tory  proprietors  of  Kentucky  lands",  in 

Ohio  Archaeological   and   Historical   Society,   publications,   xxviii 

(1919),  48ff. 
Smith,  William  Henry:     The  life  and  public  services  of  Arthur 

St.  Clair  with  his  correspondence  and  other  papers.     Cincinnati, 

1882. 
Spencer,  C.  W. :     "The  Land  System  of  Colonial  New  York,"  in 

New  York  State  Historical  Association  proceedings,  xvi,  150-164. 
Stone,  William  L. :     The  life  and  times  of  Sir  William  Johnson. 

2  vols.     Albany,  1865. 

Sullivan,  James,   editor:     The   papers  of   Sir  William  Johnson. 

3  vols,  (to  date).     Albany,  1921. 

Surrey,  N.  M.  Miller:  The  commerce  of  Louisiana  during  the 
French  regime,  1 609- 1763.  In  vol.  lxxi,  No.  i,  of  the  Columbia 
University  studies  in  history,  economics  and  public  law.  New 
York,  191 6. 

[Thomson,  Charles]  :  An  enquiry  into  the  causes  of  the  alienation 
of  the  Delaware  and  Shawanese  Indians  from  the  British  interest 
and  into  the  measures  taken  for  recovering  their  friendship,  etc. 
London,  1759. 

Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold,  editor:     Early  western  travels,  32  vols. 


346       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Cleveland,  1904- 1907.  Volume  I  consists  chiefly  of  Croghan's 
journals. 

Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold  and  Louise  P.  Kellogg,  editors:  Docu- 
mentary history  of  Lord  Dunmore's  war,  1774.     Madison,  1905. 

Turner,  Frederick  Jackson:  "Western  state-making  in  the  revolu- 
tionary era,"  in  American  Historical  Review,  I  (1895),  7ofT.  and 
25  iff. 

:     The  frontier  in  American  history.     New  York,   1920. 

Turner,  Morris  K. :  The  commercial  relations  of  the  Susque- 
hanna valley  during  the  colonial  period.  Manuscript  Ph.D. 
thesis,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  191 6. 

Villiers  du  Terrage,  Marc  de:  Les  dernieres  annees  de  la  Louis- 
iane  franchise.     Paris,   1903. 

Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography.  Richmond,  1893- 
date.  Documents  concerning  the  treaty  at  Logstown  in  1752  are 
printed  in  volume  xin  (1905),  I43ff. 

Walker,  Mabel  G. :  "Sir  John  Johnson,  Loyalist,"  in  Mississippi 
Valley  Historical  Review,  111  (1916),  3i8ff. 

Walpole,  Horace,  fourth  Earl  of  Orford:  Letters.  Edited  by 
Mrs.  Pagot  Toynbee,   16  vols.     London,   1903. 

Walton,  Joseph  S. :  Conrad  Weiser  and  the  Indian  policy  of 
colonial  Pennsylvania.     Philadelphia,  1900. 

Washington,  George :  Writings,  Edited  by  W.  C.  Ford.  14  vols. 
New  York,  1889- 1893. 

[Wharton,  Samuel]  :  Plain  facts:  being  an  examination  into  the 
rights  of  the  Indian  nations  of  America  to  their  respective  coun- 
tries; and  a  vindication  of  the  grant  from  the  Six  Nations  of 
Indians  to  the  proprietors  of  Indiana  against  the  decisions  of  the 
legislature  of  Virginia.     Philadelphia,  1781. 

Williams,  Charles  R. :  "George  Croghan,  1791-1849,"  in  Ohio 
Archaeological   and   Historical   Society,   Publications,  xn    (1903), 

375ff- 
Winsor,  Justin:     The  Mississippi  basin  -  the  struggle  in  America 

between  England  and  France,  1697-1763.     Boston,  1895. 
Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society:     Collections.     Madison,  1888- 

date. 
Withers,  Alexander   S.:     Chronicles   of  border  warfare    (1831). 

Edited  by  R.  G.  Thwaites.     Cincinnati,  1912. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  347 


III.     MANUSCRIPT  SOURCES 

American  Antiquarian  Society  Library  (Worcester,  Mass.)  The 
Sir  William  Johnson  MSS.  in  this  library  proved  useful  for  this 
study. 

American  Philosophical  Society  Library  (Philadelphia).  Important 
material  relating  to  this  study  was  found  in  the  Papers  of  Benja- 
min Franklin ,  132  vols.,  preserved  in  this  society's  library. 

British  Museum  (London).  The  miscellaneous  set  of  transcripts 
secured  from  the  library  of  the  Museum  are  noted  in  the  footnotes. 

[British]  Public  Record  Office  (London).  The  miscellaneous  set 
of  transcripts  secured  from  this  depository  are  noted  in  the  foot- 
notes. Those  most  important  came  from  the  Colonial  Office 
Papers. 

Canada,  Public  Archives  of  (Ottawa).  Use  was  made  of  tran- 
scripts of  the  Bouquet  MSS.,  1 7  vols.,  and  of  the  Haldimand  MSS., 
231  vols.,  in  these  archives. 

Congress,  Library  of  (Washington,  D.C.)  Scattered  documents 
useful  for  this  study  were  found  among  the  following:  Croghan 
MSS.,  in  Personal  miscellany ;  Sir  William  Johnson  MSS.,  1  vol. ; 
Edw.  and  Jos.  Shippen  MSS.;  Pennsylvania  miscellaneous  MSS., 
Benjamin  Franklin  Papers;  Papers  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
385  vols. ;  Washington  Papers,  upwards  of  400  vols. ;  and  the 
transcripts  from  the  Colonial  Office  Papers  in  the  Public  Record 
Office,  London. 

Cumberland  County  (Carlisle,  Pa.)  Croghan's  earliest  deeds  and 
mortgages  are  on  record  here. 

Gratz  (Anderson)  Private  Library  (St.  Louis,  Mo.)  Mr.  Ander- 
son Gratz  very  generously  placed  the  twenty-six  manuscript  vol- 
umes of  the  Gratz  Papers,  1750- 1850,  collected  with  relating  doc- 
uments, maps  and  notes,  edited  by  William  V.  Byars  in  191 4,  at 
the  disposal  of  the  writer.  The  other  copy  of  this  work  is  depos- 
ited with  the  Missouri  Historical  Society.  The  book,  Barnard 
and  Michael  Gratz,  merchants  in  Philadelphia,  1754-1798,  also 
edited  by  Byars,  contains  the  most  important  documents  found  in 
the  Gratz  Papers.  These  twenty-six  volumes  consist  of  trans- 
cripts of  documents  found  in  various  libraries  and  private  collec- 
tions. They  are  arranged  chronologically  and  are  particularly 
valuable  for  the  study  of  the  westward  movement  and  for  the 
commerical  life  of  Philadelphia. 


348       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Gratz  (Simon)  Private  Collection  (Philadelphia).  The  courtesy 
of  Mr.  Gratz  enabled  the  writer  to  make  use  of  the  Croghan  and 
Trent  letters  in  this  collection. 

Illinois  University  Library  (Urbana).  Fortunately,  this  library 
had  transcripts  made  of  some  of  the  Sir  William  Johnson  MSS. 
before  the  Albany  fire.  Use  was  made  of  these  important  tran- 
scripts, marked  (111.)  in  the  footnotes,  and  also  of  the  transcripts 
from  the  French  Archives  nationales,  colonies,  series  C  13,  con- 
sisting of  letters  and  reports  sent  home  by  French  officials  in 
America,  and  series  B,  consisting  of  the  correspondence  of  French 
ministers  with  colonial  officials. 

New  York  City  Public  Library.  The  section  of  the  Aaron  Vander- 
poel  MSS.  entitled,  William  Temple  Franklin  s  estate,  throws  much 
light  on  land  speculation  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  describes  Croghan's 
relations  to  Governor  William  Franklin.  Use  was  also  made  of 
the  Virginia  Papers  and  the  Cadwallader  Colden  letters,  etc.,  in  the 
Bancroft  Collection ;  of  the  Papers  relating  to  Canada,  16Q2-IJQ2, 
Letters  and  documents  relating  to  the  Indians,  1750-1775,  Virginia 
Papers,  1606-IJ75,  and  the  Monckton  Papers  -all  in  the  George 
Chalmers  Collection;  and  of  the  Emmett  Collection.  Several 
valuable  contemporary  maps  and  nine  Croghan  letters  were  found 
here. 

New  York  Historical  Society  Library  (New  York  City).  A  few 
deeds  and  other  Croghan  documents  were  found  here. 

New  York,  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  (Albany).  Many  ori- 
ginal papers  relating  to  the  land  history  of  New  York  and  to  its 
Indian  affairs  are  preserved  in  this  office.  Those  most  useful  for 
this  study  were  the  Books  of  patents,  1664-1866,  41  vols.,  the 
Original  Books  of  patents  1664-IJJ4,  13  vols.,  the  Books  of  deeds, 
165Q-1&55,  43  vols.,  and  the  Indian  deeds  and  treaties,  2  vols. 

New  York  State  Library  (Albany).  Of  the  original  26  volumes 
of  the  important  Sir  William  Johnson  MSS.  in  this  library,  vol- 
umes 1,  2,  6,  and  16  to  25  inclusive  are  left  and  are  in  only  fair 
condition.  Fortunately,  a  part  of  the  material  in  the  earlier  vol- 
umes had  been  prepared  for  the  press  before  the  fire  in  191 1  and  is 
now  appearing  in  the  Papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  edited  by  Dr. 
James  Sullivan.  Here  also  were  found  the  original  New  York 
colonial  council  minutes  and  some  transcripts  from  the  British 
Public  Record  Office. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  349 


Pennsylvania,  Department  of  Internal  Affairs  (Harrisburg). 
Use  was  made  of  the  following  land  records  of  the  State :  Patent 
books,  Deed  books,  Letters  of  attorney,  Copied  surveys,  New  pur- 
chase (lj68)  applications  and  West  side  applications.  Besides 
these  records,  there  are  many  miscellaneous  documents  which 
should  be  made  more  accessible  to  the  historical  investigator. 

Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  Library  (Philadelphia).  Cro- 
ghan's activities  made  it  difficult  for  him  to  preserve  his  papers; 
most  of  those  which  he  did  preserve  were  legal,  business,  or  official 
papers.  Fortunately,  his  leading  correspondents  were  in  the  habit 
of  preserving  incoming  letters  and  making  copies  of  outgoing 
letters  in  their  letter  books.  Upon  Croghan's  death  most  of  his 
papers  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  executors,  Barnard  and  Michael 
Gratz,  and  were  kept  with  many  Gratz  papers  above  the  Gratz 
store  in  Philadelphia.  A  small  number  of  persons,  including  the 
grand-son  and  great-grandson  of  Michael  Gratz,  namely  Colonel 
Frank  M.  Etting  and  Simon  Gratz  respectively,  selected  and  pre- 
served a  few  of  the  more  important  papers.  The  rest  of  this 
large  collection  has  disappeared.  Etting's  and  Gratz's  collections 
are  now  in  the  library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 
Of  Etting's  Collection,  the  Ohio  Company  MSS.  in  two  volumes 
(covering  the  period  1754  to  18 13  and  dealing  chiefly  with  the 
traders'  losses  in  1754  and  1763  and  with  the  Vandalia  project), 
the  Gratz-Croghan  MSS.  in  two  volumes,  and  the  Gratz-Croghan 
Deeds  are  especially  rich  in  Croghan  material.  The  Revolutionary 
MSS.,  Miscellaneous  MSS.  and  Large  miscellaneous  MSS.  of  the  Et- 
ting Collection  were  also  useful.  The  Gratz  papers  in  this  and 
other  libraries  and  in  private  collections  have  never  been  extensively 
used  by  historians.  They  deal  particularly  with  inland  commerce 
west  from  Philadelphia,  with  the  sea-going  trade  of  Philadelphia 
and  with  land  speculation  and  colonizing  projects  in  the  West 
during  the  century  from  about  1750  to  1850. 

Pennsylvania  State  Library  (Harrisburg).  The  Provincial 
Papers,  1664-1783,  85  volumes,  are  well  catalogued;  most  of  the 
important  documents  in  this  series,  however,  have  been  printed 
in  the  Pennsylvania  colonial  records  or  in  the  Pennsylvania  arch- 
ives. Baynton,  Wharton,  and  Morgan  s  Letter  book  A  and  John 
Bayntons  Private  letter  book  contain  some  letters  relating  to 
Croghan. 

Philadelphia    (Pa.)     City    Hall.     Croghan's   will   with    related 


350       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

papers  is  still  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  Wills;  the 
records  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  Deeds  describe  many  of 
Croghan's  land  transactions  and  incidently  often  give  other  infor- 
mation not  directly  related  to  his  land  transactions. 

Philadelphia,  Library  Company  of,  Ridgway  Branch.  The  Du 
Simitiere  Collection,  dealing  with  American  History  before  1783, 
and  the  McAllister  Collection  contain  many  documents  relating 
to  the  westward  movement.  The  McAllister  Collection  consists 
chiefly  of  papers  relating  to  business  houses  in  Philadelphia  from 
1760  to  about  1870. 

Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society  Library  (Madison).  Use  was 
made  of  transcripts  from  Lyman  C.  Draper's  Life  of  Daniel 
Boone,  from  other  Draper  MSS.,  and  from  the  Croghan  Papers. 
The  latter,  however,  deal  chiefly  with  the  Kentucky  Croghans. 
Information  concerning  Croghan's  relatives  was  secured  from  the 
Brant  Papers. 


Index 


Index 


Abercromby,  Gen.  James:  136 

Adair,  James:  43,  272  footnote;  tri- 
bute to  Croghan,  232 

Albany  Congress:  116,  138;  attitude 
towards  West,  235 

American  Revolution:  169,  180,  225, 
228,  229,  273 ;  effect  on  price  of 
frontier  lands,  287,  328 ;  effect  of 
new  imperial  land  policy  on,  295 ; 
effect  upon  land  speculation,  297 ; 
Croghan's  aloofness  to,  323  ;  events 
at  Pittsburg  in  1775-1776,  325-327; 
Croghan  supports,  325 

Amherst,  Gen.  Sir  Jeffery:  170,  231, 
266;  our  attitude  toward  Indian 
trade,  152;  short  sighted  Indian 
policy,  158-164;  opposes  Croghan's 
journey  to  England,  167-168 

Appalachian  Mts:  27;  routes  across 
in  Pa.,  28-29 

Armstrong,  John:  92,  130,  140,  236; 
attack  on  Kittanning,  104 

Atkin,  Edmund:  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs,  117;  not 
recognized  by  Loudoun,  119;  de- 
pends on  colonies  for  funds,  120; 
asserts  jurisdiction  of  Southern 
District,    129-131 

Aughwick:  52,  82,  99,  106,  107; 
Croghan  retires  to,  48 ;  his  life  at, 
48-49  ;  secures  land  at,  49 ;  becomes 
frontier  outpost,  1754-1757,  88-91 ; 
Indians  go  to  help  Braddock,  94- 
96 ;  Croghan  erects  fort  at,  101 ; 
renamed  Fort  Shirley,  103 ;  Crog- 
han secures  land  around,  239 

Augusta  Co.,  Va:  307 

Banyer,  Goldsborrow:  281,  287 
Barrington,    Lord:    attitude    toward 
the  West,  202 


Baynton,  John:  191,  200,  203,  379 
footnote,  384  footnote,  283 ;  mem- 
ber of  Illinois  Co.,  263  ;  enmity  to- 
ward Samuel  Wharton,  389  foot- 
note 

Bayton,  Wharton  and  Morgan  Co: 
267,  299 ;  premature  attempt  to  en- 
ter Indian  trade  in  1765,  1795.; 
open  trade  relations  with  Illinois 
country,  190-192;  extensive  inter- 
ests in  Ohio  valley,  190-191 ;  sup- 
ply presents  for  Indian  department, 
x93>  J95>  2°°>  2QI  \  send  large  ship- 
ment to  Illinois,  195;  private  rela- 
tions with  Croghan,  200,  280;  un- 
scrupulous business  methods,  198- 
201 ;  great  losses  in  Illinois,  203, 
389  footnote;  losses  in  Pontiac's 
conspiracy,  265 ;  bankruptcy  im- 
pending, 299 ;  see  Wharton,  Sam- 
uel 

Beajeau:  98 

Beaver  Creek:  trading  house  estab- 
lished at  mouth  by  Croghan,  34; 
Croghan's  Indian  purchase  along, 
296-297 

Bedford:  in  1763,  240;  Croghan's 
lands  around,  239-240;  Manor  of, 
240 

Bedford  Co.,  Pa:  239;  organized,  224 

Bedford,  Duke  of:  75 

Belvedere  Township:  247,  287,  332 

Bernard,  Gov.  Sir  Francis:  174 

Bienville,  Sieur  de:  6  footnote,  21 

Big  Bone  Lick:  196 

Black  Boys'.  179,  220,  224 

Blainville,  Celoron  de:  67,  72,  75; 
expedition  down  the  Ohio,  69 

Blane,  Lieut.  Archibald:  167 

Blunston  Licenses:  27 

Board  of  Trade:  192,  221,  263,  266; 


354       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


recommends  disallowance  of  Crog- 
han-Trent  bankruptcy  act,  50-51; 
plans  Indian  department  in  1754, 
116-118;  studies  Indian  affairs, 
166-170;  sponsors  proclamation  of 
1763  and  reorganization  of  Indian 
department,  170-175 ;  recommends 
private  land  grants  to  royal  offi- 
cials, 244;  opposes  confirmation  of 
Croghan's  Indian  purchase  on  the 
Ohio,  257,  258;  considers  establish- 
ing colonies  in  interior,  261 ;  re- 
fuses to  recommend  colony  in  Il- 
linois, 264;  relation  to  Grand  Ohio 
Co.,  272 

Boone,  Daniel:  apotheosized  in  his- 
tory, 38,  191,  334 

Boonesborough :  234 

Botetourt  Co.,  Va:  organized,  224 

Botetourt,  Gov.  N.  B:  273 

Bouquet,  Col.  Henry:  139,  147,  181, 
199,  236,  266;  commandant  at  Fort 
Pitt,  140-141 ;  occupies  other 
French  forts,  153-156;  plans  to  oc- 
cupy Illinois  in  1763,  157;  relieves 
Fort  Pitt  in  1763,  164-168,  175; 
opposes  Croghan  in  1765,  178; 
proclamation  of  1761,  210-212;  in- 
terest in  settlement  at  Pittsburg, 
213-214 

Braddock,  Gen.  Edward:  48,  51;  ex- 
pedition against  Fort  DuQuesne, 
90-99 ;  contracts  with  Croghan  for 
the  use  of  packhorses,  91 ;  plans 
two  roads  to  the  Ohio,  91-93 ;  em- 
ploys Indians  from  Aughwick  un- 
der Croghan,  94;  defeat  and  death, 
97*99  >  effect  of  defeat  on  the  fron- 
tier, 100,  106 ;  relation  to  origin 
of  Indian  department,  117,  122,  334 

Bradstreet,  Col.  John:  175,  236 

Brant,  Joseph:  25,  324 

Brant,  Molly:  119 

Bryan,  William:  39 

Buchanan,  William:  92 

Burd,     James:     visits     Croghan     at 


Aughwick,  88 ;  assists  in  laying  out 
road  to  the  Ohio  in  1755,  92,  97 

Burge,  S.  and  Co:  40 

Burlington  Co:  loans  to  Croghan, 
281-282,  401  footnote ;  unscrupu- 
lous business  methods,  284;  fore- 
close Monckton  Hall,  329 ;  relation 
to  Otsego  lands,  329 

Burlington  land  speculating  group: 
248 ;  see  Burlington  Co. 

Burnt  Cabins:  71 

Burr,  Aaron:  26,  144;  attorney  for 
Croghan's  heirs,  330 

Cahokia  Indians:  197 

Callendar,  Robert:  24,  39,  41,  46,  81, 
88,    102,   265,    379   footnote,   267 

Camden,  Lord:  opinion  on  colonial 
boundaries,  305 ;  see  Camden- 
Yorke  opinion 

Camden-Yorke  opinion:  origin,  295; 
kept  secret,  296,  298 ;  utilized  by 
Illinois  and  Wabash  Land  Com- 
panies, 296;  by  Croghan,  296-297; 
by  company  organized  by  Whar- 
ton, 297 ;  advocated  before  conti- 
nental congress,  298 ;  restated  by 
Dagge  and  Glynn,  298 ;  utilized 
by  Indiana  Co.  after  1775,  298- 
301 ;  endorsed  by  Patrick  Henry 
and  Franklin,  299 ;  advocated  be- 
fore Virginia  legislature,  309-312 

Campbell,  Capt.  John:  156,  187,  188 

Campbell,  John:  surveyor  for  Crog- 
han, 289,  296,  301,  307,  325,  334 

Carlisle:  32,  92,  164,  165,  212;  Epis- 
copal Church  in,  24;  Indian  con- 
ference in  1753  at,  81-82;  endan- 
gered, 101 ;  Indian  conference  in 
1756  at,  104-105 

Carlyle,  John:  86 

Catawbas:  37,  116,  129 

Cherokees:  37,  116,  126,  129-131,  160, 
217 

Chippewas:  156 

Clapham,  Col:  214,  257 

Clark,  Daniel:  25,   144,   334 


INDEX 


355 


Clark,  George  Rogers:  311;  not  sup- 
ported   by    western    Pennsylvania, 

3I3-3I4 

Clarkson,  Matthew:  description  of 
travel  on  Forbes's  road  in  1766, 
212-213 

Claus,  Daniel:  222;  appointed  Dep- 
uty Superintendent,   121-122 

Clinton,   Gov.  Sir  Henry:  35 

Colden,  Gov.  Cadwallader:  243,  249, 
281,  283 

Cole,  Edward:  193,  201,  206 

Colonies:  proposed  in  interior,  234, 
261ft 

Connolly,  Dr.  John:  25,  in,  286,  301, 
302 ;  rashness  during  Lord  Dun- 
more's  War,  302-304;  seizes  Fort 
Pitt  for  Virginia,  306;  justice  of 
peace  at  Pittsburg,  307 ;  a  loyalist, 

324 

Continental  Congress:  relation  to 
land  speculation,  298,  430  footnote, 
300;  appealed  to  by  companies  and 
individuals  claiming  lands  in 
West,  312,  314;  significance  of 
struggle  over  claims,  315-320; 
claims  involved  in  struggle  over 
West,  316  ff. ;  Passy  Memorial  to, 
316;  accepts  cession  by  Virginia, 
318  ;   regulated  Indian  relations,  324 

Contrecoeur,  Pierre  de:  erects  Fort 
DuQuesne,  83 

Conway,  Gen.  Henry  Seymour:  263, 
264 

Cooper,  James  Fenimore:  252,  330, 
331,  469  footnote 

Cooper,  Judge  William:  469  foot- 
note ;  develops  Otsego  lands,  330- 
332;  see  Craig,  Andrew 

Cooperstown:  origin,  249-254,  331 

Craig,  Andrew  and  Cooper,  Wil- 
liam: purchase  shares  in  Burling- 
ton Co.,  329 ;  unscrupulous  meth- 
ods, 329-332;  secure  Monckton 
Hall  and  Otsego  lands,  330;  litiga- 
tion, 330 

Crawford,  Hugh:  39,  102,  192 


Crawford,  William:  274,  302,  325; 
agent  for  Washington,  289-294 

Cresap,  Michael:  302 

Croghan,  George:  summary  of  life 
and  contribution  to  American  his- 
tory, 13-14,  334-336;  spelling  of  his 
name  and  handwriting,  n  foot- 
note, 23 ;  emigrates  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, 23;  early  life  unknown,  23; 
member  of  Episcopal  church,  24; 
attitude  toward  religion,  24-25 ; 
traits  of  character,  45,  74,  110-112; 
relatives,  25-26,  157;  settles  in 
Cumberland  valley,  32;  enters  In- 
dian trade,  32-33;  warehouses  and 
tanyard  maintained  at  his  home, 
33;  route  followed  into  West,  33; 
trading  house  at  Pine  Creek,  33  ; 
various  routes  followed  in  the  Ohio 
region,  34;  other  trading  houses, 
34-35 ;  fondness  for  Sandusky  Bay, 
35  ;  shifts  interest  to  Pickawillani, 
36 ;  trades  in  region  south  of  Ohio 
River,  37 ;  preeminence  among 
English  traders,  38,  78;  size  of  his 
business,  38-39,  41 ;  partners  and 
competitors,  39 ;  eastern  factors, 
40;  source  of  capital  used,  40;  law- 
suits and  attorneys  of,  41 ;  losses 
due  to  French  advance,  1750-1754, 
41,  45  ff.,  79,  87;  reasons  for  pre- 
eminence, 42-45 ;  friendly  relations 
with  Indians,  44;  knowledge  of  In- 
dian languages  and  customs,  44; 
dangers  encountered  while  trading, 
45 ;  French  advance,  1749-1754, 
causes  bankruptcy,  45-48,  79 ; 
threatened  with  imprisonment  for 
debt,  47-53;  retires  to  Aughwick, 
48 ;  services  as  Indian  agent  need- 
ed, 49 ;  assembly  declares  bank- 
rupt, 49-51,  91,  103;  action  disal- 
lowed, 50;  attempts  to  secure  resti- 
tution for  losses,  51-53,  168,  265, 
266,  270;  makes  legal  settlement 
for  debts,  52 ;  ceases  activities  as 
Indian     trader,      53;      experience 


356       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


gained  as  trader  foundation  for 
later  work,  54;  significance  and 
summary  of  his  work  as  a  trader, 
54;  Indian  agent  for  Pennsylvania, 
56;  facsimile  of  earliest  letter  of, 
57 ;  interests  Pennsylvania  govern- 
ment in  Indian  affairs  in  far  West, 
59  ff. ;  sent  to  Lake  Erie  Indians 
with  present  in  1747,  60-61 ;  assists 
in  transporting  presents  to  Ohio 
tribes  for  Pennsylvania,  62 ;  sent  to 
Ohio  tribes  with  present,  April, 
1748,  63;  exceeds  instructions,  64; 
preparation  and  reliability  of  his 
journals,  76,  140,  216  footnote,  106 
footnote ;  participates  in  confer- 
ence at  Lancaster,  1748,  64-66,  and 
in  mission  to  Ohio  tribes,  66-68 ; 
sent  to  Ohio  to  counteract  Celoron 
de  Blainville's  influence,  69;  jus- 
tice of  peace  in  Cumberland  Co., 
69 ;  helps  oust  squatters,  69-71 ; 
Ohio  mission  in  1750,  71-73; 
mission  to  Pickawillani  in  1750, 
72-74;  sent  with  Montour  to  the 
Ohio  in  1751,  74-76;  advocates 
building  fort  on  the  Ohio,  75-77; 
assists  Virginia  and  Ohio  Co.  in 
Logstown  treaty  in  1752,  77-78; 
French  offer  bounty  for  scalp  of, 
78;  meets  Indians  at  Pine  Creek 
in  1753,  80-81 ;  assists  in  Indian 
conferences  at  Winchester  and 
Carlisle  in  1753,  81-82;  contracts 
to  supply  provisions  for  Ohio  Com- 
pany's fort,  83 ;  meets  Indians  at 
Logstown  in  1754  for  Pennsylvania, 
83-84;  not  adequately  paid  by 
Pennsylvania,  85 ;  supplies  pack- 
horses  to  Washington  in  1754,  85- 
86;  Indian  agent  for  Virginia  in 
*754>  87;  difficulties  encountered  at 
Aughwick,  88-91 ;  supplies  pack- 
horses  to  Braddock,  91 ;  assists  in 
laying  out  road  to  the  Ohio  in  1755, 
91-93 ;  leads  Aughwick  Indians  to 
Braddock,  94-96 ;  Indian  agent  and 


scout  for  Braddock,  95-98 ;  part 
played  at  Braddock's  defeat,  97-99 ; 
discredited  by  the  defeat,  99  ;  erects 
fort  at  Aughwick  in  1755,  ioiff. ; 
made  captain,  103 ;  his  work  on  the 
Pennsylvania  frontier  in  1755-1756, 
103  ff. ;  assists  in  Indian  confer- 
ences at  Carlisle  and  Harris's  Fer- 
ry, 104-105 ;  escapes  attack  by 
French,  105 ;  resigns  commission 
as  captain,  106,  179  footnote; 
leaves  for  Johnson  Hall,  106 ;  sus- 
pected of  treason,  106-111;  rela- 
tion to  Filius  Gallicae  letters, 
108  ff. ;  explanation  of  mistrust  in, 
110-112;  services  in  defense  against 
French,  1754-1757,  113;  value  of 
experience  as  provincial  Indian 
agent,  113;  appointed  Deputy  Su- 
perintendent, 121-124;  assigned  to 
Western  tribes,  122 ;  assists  in  War 
in  New  York  in  1756  and  1757,  123, 
136;  intimate  relations  with  John- 
son, 123-124,  253;  instructions  from 
Johnson  in  1756,  124;  handicaps 
encountered,  125-130;  advanced 
money  for  Indian  department,  126, 
194,  230;  meets  Atkin  to  divide 
work,  129-131;  conferences  with 
Indians  at  Harris's  Ferry  and  Lan- 
caster in  1757,  131-133;  Indian 
conference  at  Easton  in  1757,  133- 
136;  Indian  conference  at  Easton 
in  1758,  137-140;  assists  in  capture 
of  Fort  DuQuesne,  139-142;  estab- 
lishes residence  at  Pittsburg,  143 ; 
conducts  Indian  conferences  at  Fort 
Pitt,  1758-1763,  144  ff.;  difficult 
problems  at  Fort  Pitt,  144-153;  as- 
sists Bouquet  to  occupy  other 
French  forts,  153-154;  occupation 
of  Detroit,  154-155;  at  Indian  con- 
ference at  Detroit  in  1761,  155-156; 
at  conference  at  Easton  in  1762, 
157-158;  Indian  conference  at  Lan- 
caster in  1762,  158;  difficulties  in 
securing  funds,  158-164;  principles 


INDEX 


357 


followed  in  his  Indian  policy,  162- 
163;  considers  resigning  in  1762, 
163;  assists  in  relieving  Fort  Pitt 
in  1763,  164-165;  favors  strong  In- 
dian department,  166;  journey  to 
England  in  1763-1765,  166-170; 
tenders  resignation  in  1763,  168; 
elated  with  new  status  of  Indian 
department  in  1764,  174-175;  im- 
portance of  mission  to  occupy  the 
Illinois  country,  175-178;  journey 
to  Fort  Pitt,  178-179;  frontiersmen 
attack  his  convoy,  179-181 ;  diffi- 
culties encountered  at  Fort  Pitt, 
181 ;  Indian  conference  at  Fort  Pitt, 
181-182;  voyage  down  the  Ohio  in 

1765,  182-184;  journals  for  Illinois 
mission,  272  footnote;  attacked  by 
Indians,  184-185  ;  makes  peace  with 
Pontiac,  187-188;  Indian  confer- 
ence at  Detroit,  188;  significance  of 
his  Illinois  mission,  189-190;  rela- 
tions to  business  groups  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 190;  new  plan  for  Indian 
department  in  1766,  192-193 ;  sec- 
ond mission  to  Illinois  planned, 
191-194;  difficulty  to  secure  funds 
and  presents,  193-194;  holds  In- 
dian   conference    at    Fort    Pitt    in 

1766,  194-195;  at  Big  Bone  Lick, 
196;  holds  Indian  conference  at 
Kaskaskia,  197-198;  results  there- 
from, 197-198;  return  to  New 
York,  198;  tenders  resignation  to 
Gage,  198-208;  charged  with  cor- 
ruption, 198-201 ;  personal  rela- 
tions to  Baynton,  Wharton  and 
Morgan  Co.,  199-200;  discouraged 
with  economy  of  Gage  and  new 
status  of  Indian  department,  201- 
207;  withdraws  resignation,  207; 
significance  of  his  work,  1758-1766, 
208 ;  builds  Croghan  Hall  at  Pitts- 
burg, 215;  extensive  interests 
around  Pittsburg,  214-215;  points 
out  danger  of  Indian  War  in  1766 
unless    settlement   checked,    216  ff. ; 


Indian  conference  at  Fort  Pitt, 
220-222;  advocates  new  Indian 
boundary  line,  221 ;  at  treaty  of 
Fort  Stanwix,  222-224;  surveys 
new  boundary  line,  223;  interest  in 
abandonment  of  Fort  Pitt,  226 ;  dis- 
couraged by  drastic  cut  in  budget 
of  Indian  department,  230;  resig- 
nation in  1772,  230-232;  ill-health, 
231 ;  estimate  of  his  work  as  dep- 
uty superintendent,  232;  influential 
leader  of  Pennsylvania  group  in- 
terested in  western  lands,  236,  261, 
279;  lands  owned  in  Cumberland 
valley,  238-239;  lands  owned 
around  Bedford  and  Huntingdon, 
239-240;  lands  owned  around 
Pittsburg,  240-242 ;  lands  owned 
near  Philadelphia,  241,  280;  his 
land  policy,  241-242;  secures  20,000 
acres  in  Cherry  valley,  242-248 ; 
secures  Otsego  patent  in  New 
York,  249-251 ;  additional  pur- 
chases, 251;  rapid  improvement  of 
Otsego  lands,  252-254;  purchases 
three  tracts  near  Pittsburg  from 
the  Indians,  254-258 ;  royal  con- 
firmation thereof  refused,  257-259 ; 
leadership  in  land  companies,  261 ; 
advocates  in  London  establishment 
of  interior  colonies,  261 ;  makes 
glowing  reports  on  nature  of  wes- 
tern lands  on  return  from  Illinois, 
262;  organizes  Illinois  Co.,  263- 
264;  assists  in  attempt  to  secure 
restitution  for  himself  and  trad- 
ers for  losses  in  1763,  265 ;  helps 
organize  Indiana  Co.,  265-267;  his 
membership  therein  kept  secret, 
267;  assists  company  at  treaty  of 
Fort  Stanwix,  268-269 ;  assists  com- 
pany in  quieting  opposition  of 
claimants  of  1754,  270;  attacked 
by  Morgan,  389  footnote ;  member 
of  Grand  Ohio  Co.,  271 ;  great 
interest  and  influence  in  this 
company,     272,     275 ;     holds     In- 


358       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


dian  conference  at  Pittsburg 
for  company,  275-276 ;  prospects 
for  becoming  great  landowner, 
276 ;  large  amount  of  investments, 
279;  effect  of  failure  of  Vandalia 
project,  285-286;  influence  on  set- 
tlement in  central  New  York,  288; 
surveys  and  places  on  sale  his 
200,000  acre  Indian  grant  near 
Pittsburg,  288  ff. ;  title  thereto  be- 
clouded, 288-294;  method  of  finan- 
cing land  operations,  279  ff. ;  B. 
and  M.  Gratz  eastern  agents  of, 
280-281 ;  source  of  his  capital,  281 ; 
precarious  financial  condition  in 
1769,  282-283 ;  sale  of  New  York 
lands,  283-287;  desire  to  sell  lands 
to  Washington,  291-293 ;  entertains 
Washington  at  Croghan  Hall,  292; 
severe  competition  with  Washing- 
ton for  lands,  289,  291,  293 ;  basis 
of  claims  of  each,  294;  result  de- 
termined in  London,  294;  relation 
to  Illinois  and  Wabash  Land  com- 
panies, 296;  private  purchases  on 
the  Ohio  in  1773  and  1775,  296- 
297,  429  footnote ;  relation  to 
Wharton's  private  purchase  on 
the  Ohio,  297-298 ;  participates  in 
reviving  of  Indiana  Co.  in  1775, 
299-301 ;  turns  to  Virginia  for  title 
to  Ohio  lands,  302;  services  during 
Lord  Dunmore's  War,  303-304; 
sides  with  Virginia  in  boundary 
dispute  with  Pennsylvania,  3055.; 
justice  of  the  peace  for  Virginia  at 
Pittsburg,  307-309 ;  petitions  Vir- 
ginia legislature  for  recognition  of 
his  Ohio  land  claims,  310-312;  in- 
curs enmity  of  settlers,  312-313;  pe- 
titions continental  congress  for  title, 
312,  314,  316;  favorable  consid- 
eration by  congress  of  petition,  317- 
319;  failure  to  secure  legal  titles 
desired,  320-321 ;  attitude  toward 
American  Revolution,  169,  323; 
relatives  and  associates  tories,  324, 


326,  327;  chairman  of  committee 
of  correspondence,  325-326 ;  ac- 
cused and  acquitted  of  treason, 
326-327;  removes  to  Lancaster, 
327 ;  poverty,  327 ;  removes  to 
Passyunk,  328 ;  remnant  of  lands 
left  to  him,  328 ;  lands  sold  to  set- 
tle debts,  328-330;  death,  burial 
and  will,  332-333;  place  in  history, 
13-14,  334-336;  his  papers,  349 

Croghan,  George  (Colonel  during 
War  of  1812)  :  8  footnote,  23  foot- 
note 

Croghan,  Susannah:  daughter  of  Geo. 
Croghan,  25-26 ;  settles  on  Lake 
Otsego,  254;  inheritance  from 
Croghan,   333 

Croghan,  William:  23  footnote,  311, 

334 
Croghan's  Forest:  248,  252-254,  328; 

sold  to  Joseph  Wharton,  329 
Croghan    Hall:    143,    215,    240,    257, 

288,  328,   332 
Croghan's:  32,  65,  66 
Croghan's  Gap:  32 
Crohon,     Dennis:    23     footnote,     379 

footnote 
Cumberland  Co.,  Pa:  organized,  69; 

squatters  on  Indian  lands,  69-71 
Cumberland  valley:  27,  32,  238,  239; 

Croghan's  lands  in,  238-240 

Dallas,  A.  J:  332 

Dartmouth,  Lord:  272,  392  footnote, 
397  footnote',  opposes  Lord  Dun- 
more's western  policy,  301 ;  sup- 
ports Virginia  in  boundary  dispute 
with   Pennsylvania,    306 

Delaware  Indians:  30,  66,  75,  76,  123, 
129,  133,  137,  144,  156,  164,  175, 
182,  186,  194,  220,  224,  267,  303-304 

Delaware  Jo:  104 

Demoiselle  La:  79 

Denny,  Gov.  William:  126,  128,  132, 
133,  137,  147,  150;  tardy  recogni- 
tion  of  Indian   department,    125 

Detroit:   35,   143,  226,  228;   occupied 


INDEX 


359 


by  the  English,  154-155;  Indian 
conference  in  1761  at,  155-156;  In- 
dian conference  in  1765  at,  188; 
English  colony  proposed  around, 
234 

Dieskau,  Baron:  119 

Dinwiddie,  Gov.  Robert:  43,  82,  137 
footnote,   86-88,   94,   120,   272 

District  of  West  Augusta:  224,  307, 
308 

Dobson,  Joseph:  168 

Dunmore,  Lord:  on  impossibility  of 
checking  westward  movement,  211 ; 
attitude  toward  Croghan's  land 
claims  around  Pittsburg,  293 ;  ag- 
gressive western  policy  after  1773, 
301 ;  land  speculators  welcome, 
302 ;  his  war  with  Shawnee,  302- 
304;  boundary  controversy  with 
Pennsylvania,   304-309 

DuQuesne,  Gov.  Le  Cain:  instructed 
to  drive  English  from  the  Ohio,  78, 
79 

Easton:  Indian  conference  in  1757, 
133-136;  in  1758,  137-HO,  210; 
in   1762,  157-158 

Ecuyer,  Capt.  Simeon:  147;  besieged 
in  Fort  Pitt,   164-170 

Edmonstone,  Capt.  Charles:  215 

Evans,  Gov.  John:  21 

Evans,  Lewis:  37,  112,  264 

Fairfax,  William:  81 

Farmar,  Major  Robert:  264  footnote, 
187,  188,  192 

Fauquier,  Gov.  Francis:  210,  218 

Filius  Gallicae  letters:  108-111 

Fincastle  Co.,  Va.;  organized,  224 

Finley,  John:  39 

Forbes,  Gen.  John:  Indian  depart- 
ment assists,  124;  appreciates  im- 
portance of  Indian  affairs,  136-137; 
captures  Fort  DuQuesne,  137-142 

Forbes's  Road:  28,  94,  143,  189;  set- 
tlement along,  212-214 

Fort  Augusta:  133 


Fort  Bedford:  165,  212 

Fort  Cumberland:  92,  94,  95 

Fort  de  Chartres:  175,  181,  184,  186, 
188,  192,  195,  197,  198,  199,  226 

Fort  Dunmore:  306 

Fort  DuQuesne:  83,  102,  105,  106,  107, 
124,  137,  213;  Braddock's  expedi- 
tion against,  191-199;  abandoned 
by  French,   1 39-141 

Fort  Granville:  destroyed  by  French, 
105 

Fort  Johnson:  123 

Fort  Le  Boeuf:  77,  156;  French  es- 
tablish fort  at,  82 ;  Washington's 
mission  to,   82-83 

Fort  Ligonier:  167,  212 

Fort  Loudoun    (Pa.)  :  130,   180,  212 

Fort  Lyttleton:  158,  165 

Fort  Miami:  35,   143,   155,   156 

Fort  Michillimackinac:  143,  156,  188, 
206,  226,  228 ;  occupied  by  English, 

Fort  Necessity:  137  footnote,  85,  87; 
surrendered,  88 

Fort  Niagara:  156,  228;  captured  by 
Johnson,    119 

Fort  Ouiatenon:  20,  175,  185,  186; 
Indian  conference  at  in  1765,  187 

Fort  Pitt:  156,  160,  177,  178;  estab- 
lished, 140-142;  importance,  143; 
Indian  conferences  in  1759  and 
1760,  143-153;  difficulty  to  provi- 
sion and  maintain,  146-148 ;  Penn- 
sylvania establishes  trading  house 
at,  150-152;  in  danger  till  1760, 
153  ;  besieged  in  1763,  164-166 ;  base 
for  occupation  of  Illinois  country, 
175  ff. ;  Indian  conference  in  1765 
at,  181-182;  Indian  conference  in 
1766,  194-195,  219;  Indian  confer- 
ence in  1768,  220-222;  in  state  of 
war,  224;  abandoned  by  English, 
226,  seized  by  Virginia,  306 ;  see 
Pittsburg 

Fort  Presque  Isle:  153,  154,  156;  es- 
tablished by  French,  82 

Fort  St.  Joseph:  156 


360       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


Fort  Sandusky:  155,  156 

Fort  Sault  Ste.  Marie:  156 

Fort  Shirley:  established  by  Croghan, 
103-104;  French  plan  to  attack  it, 
105 ;  abandoned,  105 

Fort  Ticonderoga:   123,    136,   226 

Fort  Venango:  82,  84,  153,  156;  see 
Venango 

Fox  Indians:  197 

Fox,  Joseph:  133 

Franklin,  Benjamin:  22,  66,  216  foot- 
note, 177,  272  footnote,  191,  205, 
207,  221,  262,  286,  298,  335;  partici- 
pates in  Indian  conference  at  Car- 
lisle in  1753,  81-82;  interested  in 
large  bones  and  teeth  found  in 
Kentucky,  196,  284  footnote',  on  fu- 
ture of  West,  209 ;  interested  in 
western  land  speculation,  234,  235; 
plan  for  western  colonies,  235; 
member  of  Illinois  Co.,  263-264; 
supports  in  London,  petition  of  In- 
diana Co.,  267;  active  in  organiza- 
tion of  Grand  Ohio  Co.,  271  ff.,  392 
footnote',  endorses  Camden-Yorke 
opinion,  299 ;  supports  claims  of 
Vandalia  before  congress,  316; 
Passy  Memorial,   316 

Franklin,  Gov.  Wm:  221,  236,  248, 
268,  283,  286,  287,  300,  335;  jour- 
ney to  the  Ohio  in  1748,  66 ;  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  222;  member  of  Illinois 
Co.,  263-264;  secret  member  of  In- 
diana Co.,  267;  member  of  Grand 
Ohio  Co.,  271 ;  supplies  capital  to 
Croghan,  280,  281,  282;  loyalist, 
329 ;  losses  on  Croghan's  Otsego 
mortgage,  329-332 

Franks,  David:  151,  236,  241,  265, 
379  footnote,  291,  296,  324 

Franks,   David  &  Co:   190 
Franks,  Moses:  190;  agent  in  London 
for  "Suff'ring  Traders,"  265  ;  agent 
of  claimants  of   1754,  270 
Fraser,  John:  34,   39,  47,  80,   82 
Fraser,  Lieut.  Alexander:  journey  to 


Illinois  country,  178,  181,  184,  186, 
205 
French:  Indian  trade,  18  ff.;  lines  of 
communication  between  Canada 
and  Louisiana,  20;  fear  penetra- 
tion of  English  traders,  21-22;  re- 
monstrate against  English  traders 
coming  to  Lake  Erie,  35  ;  capture 
English  traders  south  of  Ohio,  37; 
advantages  and  disadvantages  in 
Indian  trade,  42;  drive  English 
traders  out  of  the  Ohio  region, 
45  ff.,  67-69,  78 ;  new  Indian  policy 
for  Ohio  region  after  1748,  56  ff.; 
prepare  to  erect  forts  on  the  Ohio, 
71-73 ;  mission  to  Pickawillani, 
1750,  72-74;  destroy  Pickawillani, 
78 ;  erect  forts  on  the  Ohio,  82-83 ; 
Ohio  tribes  become  pro-French,  84- 
85 ;  war  on  Pennsylvania  frontier, 
85  ff. ;  rivalry  for  Ohio  lands,  112; 
abandon  Fort  DuQuesne,  137-142; 
remain  in  control  of  Illinois  coun- 
try till  1765,  157,  175  ff. ;  incite  In- 
dians against  English,  184,  185,  191 

Friendly  Association  (of  Quakers)  : 
127,  128 

Frontier:  Pennsylvania  settler's  fron- 
tier in  1750,  21,  26-27,  209;  in  1760, 
239;  Indian  trader's  frontier,  21, 
27-28;  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia 
and  Maryland  attacked  by  Indians, 
100  ff. ;  westward  movement  of  set- 
tler's frontier  after  1758,  209  ff. ; 
impossibility  to  check,  210-212;  set- 
tler's frontier  in  central  New  York, 
242 

Fry,  Col.  Joshua:  82 

Furs:  demand  for  in  Europe,  17 

Fur  trade:  see  Indian  trade 

Gage,  Gen.  Thomas:  176,  187,  191, 
211,  244,  258,  266,  275,  296,  324; 
with  Braddock,  97;  plans  occupa- 
tion of  the  Illinois  country,  177, 
178 ;  attitude  toward  frontiers- 
men, 180;  new  plan  for  Indian  de- 


INDEX 


361 


partment,  192-193;  not  friendly  to 
Croghan's  expenses  in  1766,  193 ; 
instructions  to  Croghan  in  1766, 
194;  limits  expenditures  and  pow- 
ers   of    Indian    department    after 

1766,  201-207;  interest  in  settle- 
ments around  inland  forts,  213; 
tries  to  check  settlements  on  Indian 
lands,  217  ff. ;  fears  Indian  war  in 

1767,  219;  abandons  interior  forts, 
226;  orders  contraction  in  Indian 
department,  227-229;  declines  to 
become  concerned  in  land  compan- 
ies, 263 

Galbreath,  John:   39 

Galloway,  Joseph:  133,  221;  attor- 
ney for  Croghan,  65  footnote; 
member  of  Illinois  Co.,  263;  buys 
shares  in  Indiana  Co.  from  Crog- 
han, 288;  president  of  Indiana  Co., 
300 

Girty,  Simon:  71 

Gist,  Christopher:  36,  43,  72,  73,  77, 
81,  86,  94,  97 

Gladwyn,   Capt.  Henry:   167 

Godin,  Nicole:  21 

Gordon,  Capt.  Harry:  with  Brad- 
dock,  96-97;  158  footnote,  195,  198 

Gorham,  Joseph:  appointed  Deputy 
Superintendent,  121-122 

Grand  Ohio  Co:  261;  organization, 
271 ;  colony  of  Vandalia  proposed, 
271 ;  Croghan's  200,000  acre  grant 
on  Ohio  merged  in,  272 ;  keen  in- 
terest in,  272 ;  see  Vandalia 

Gratz,  Barnard:  52,  190,  236,  274, 
281,  291,  327,  469  footnote,  334; 
eastern  factor  and  intimate  friend 
of  Croghan,  280-281 ;  agent  to  sell 
Croghan's  New  York  lands,  284- 
287,  296 ;  presents  Croghan's  land 
claims  to  Virginia  legislature,  310- 
311;  relieves  poverty  of  Croghan, 
327,  328 ;  executor  of  Croghan's 
estate,  333;  his  papers,  349 

Gratz,   Michael:   190,   236,   280,   281, 


283,  285,  296,  333,  334;  see  Gratz, 

Barnard 
Grayson  vs.  Virginia:  319-320 
Green  Bay:  fort  on,  156 
Grenville,   George:  170 

Haldimand,  Gen.  Frederick:  296 

Half  King:  44 

Halifax,  Lord:  75,  169,  170,  261,  266; 
investigates  Filius  Gallicae  letters, 
108-111 

Hamilton,  Alexander:  attorney  for 
Craig  and  Cooper,  330 

Hamilton,  Gov.  James:  43,  69,  73, 
78-84,  89,  99,  105,  107,  132,  133, 
158;  sends  Croghan  to  the  Ohio, 
I75°>  7I-73  >  supports  an  aggres- 
sive Indian  policy,  74-77,  99 ;  gives 
Croghan  captain's  commission,  103 

Hardy,  Gov.  Charles:  108-109 

Harris,  John:  26,  80,   101,   131 

Harris's  Ferry:  26,   32,  62,   101,   104, 

131 

Henry,  Alexander:  43,  149,  340  foot- 
note 

Henry,  Patrick:  326;  interested  in 
western  land  speculation,  234;  ap- 
pealed to  by  speculators,  298 ;  en- 
dorses Camden-Yorke  opinion,  299 

Hillsborough,  Lord:  169,  170,  171, 
211,  231,  299;  disapproves  of  pri- 
vate Indian  purchases  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  258;  opposes  Grand  Ohio 
Co.,  272 

Hockley,   Richard:  40,   236,  238,  239 

Hooper,  Robert  Lettis:  surveyor  for 
Croghan,  289;  for  Indiana  Co.,  300 

Hoops,  Adam:  92,   100 

Hughes,  John:  133;  member  of  Illi- 
nois Co.,  263 

Huntingdon:    city    laid    out,    239 

Hurons:  see   Wyandots 

Hutchins,  Ensign  Thomas:  157,  176, 
195 ;   assistant  to  Croghan,   144 

Illinois  Co.  (of  1766):  261;  origin 
and  organization,  263 ;  plans  col- 
ony in   Illinois,   264 


362       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


Illinois  country:  21-22,  118;  Bouquet 
plans  to  occupy  in  1763,  157; 
French  still  controlled  in  1765,  175; 
difficult  to  occupy,  175-177,  183; 
Croghan's  mission  to,  177-189;  oc- 
cupied by  English,  188 ;  English  in- 
terest in  its  Indian  trade,  189  ff . ; 
Croghan's  second  mission  to,  191- 
199 ;  trade  disappointing  to  Eng- 
lish, 203-204;  Croghan  reports  on 
fine  lands  in,  262;  organization  of 
Illinois  Co.   in   1766,   263-264 

Illinois  Indians:  175-204,  passim ; 
restless  under  French  control,  21- 
22 ;  placed  in  Northern  District, 
118 

Illinois  Land  Co.  (of  1773)  :  427 
footnote,  301,  311;  organization, 
296;  see  Illinois- Wabash  Co. 

Illinois-Wabash  Co:  314,  316-319 

Indian  boundary  line:  see  Proclama- 
tion line  of  1763  and  Indian  Land 
Sales 

Indian  department:  reasons  for  es- 
tablishment, 115-116;  early  organ- 
ization, 116-118;  Northern  and 
Southern  Districts,  118;  under  con- 
trol of  military,  119-121;  no  funds 
of  its  own,  120,  126,  174,  229 ;  dep- 
uty superintendents  in  Northern 
District,  121 ;  nature  of  boundary 
between  the  two  Districts,  129- 
131 ;  difficulties  with  Pennsylvania, 
133-I35»  J38;  arranges  Indian 
treaties  in  Pennsylvania  and  as- 
sists Forbes,  131-142;  services  to 
army  at  Fort  Pitt,  143-153;  attitude 
of  military  officials  to,  147,  148 ;  as- 
sists in  occupying  French  forts, 
153-155 ;  difficulty  in  securing 
funds,  158-163;  plan  to  strengthen 
it,  166-170;  proclamation  of  1763, 
170-172;  plan  of  1764,  172-173; 
weakness  of  plan,  173-175;  put  into 
effect,  192  ff.;  expenditures  and 
powers  limited  after  1766,  201- 
207;    effect   of   revolutionary  trou- 


bles on,  205,  225  ;  services  render- 
ed, 1758-1763,  208;  turns  attention 
to  land  affairs  after  1766,  209; 
attempts  to  quiet  Indian  resentment 
at  settlements  in  West,  216  ff.; 
treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  221  ff. ;  de- 
cline after  1768,  225  ff. ;  regulation 
of  Indian  trade  abandoned,  227- 
230;  decrease  in  staff,  227;  drastic 
cut  in  budget,  229 ;  relation  to  Lord 
Dunmore's  War,  302-304;  see 
Johnson,  Sir  William;  Stuart,  John 
and  Croghan,  George 

Indian  land  sales:  to  Pennsylvania 
before  1755,  55,  59;  proposed  pur- 
chase by  Pennsylvania  of  lands  to 
the  Ohio,  68 ;  Iroquois  purchase  of 
1754  by  Pennsylvania,  71,  210; 
sale  of  Ohio  lands  in  1754  denied, 
84;  Penns  retrocede  southwestern 
Pennsylvania,  138-139;  around  in- 
terior forts,  144;  private  purchases 
forbidden,  171,  173;  Croghan's 
purchases  on  the  Ohio,  214-225, 
254  ff.,  296-297 ;  large  regions  sold 
at  Fort  Stanwix,  221-225 ;  method 
of  sale  of  part  in  Pennsylvania, 
240-241 ;  method  of  sale  in  New 
York  after  1763,  249-250;  sale  to 
Illinois  and  Wabash  Land  compan- 
ies, 296 

Indian  trade:  demand  for  furs  and 
skins  in  Europe  and  China,  17; 
economic  basis,  18;  rivalry  of 
England  and  France  for,  18;  their 
conflict  along  the  trader's  frontier, 
19;  rapid  westward  movement  of 
Pennsylvania  traders,  21-22,  27- 
29 ;  packhorses  used,  29 ;  articles 
bartered,  30;  how  financed,  30; 
relative  advantages  of  English  and 
French,  42,  68 ;  bad  character  of 
white  traders,  43  ;  danger  to  life, 
45;  regulation  in  Pennsylvania  be- 
fore 1754,  55 ;  rivalry  of  English 
and  French  for  trade  in  Ohio  re- 
gion, 59  ff. ;  regulation  by  Pennsyl- 


INDEX 


363 


vania,  127;  importance,  148-149; 
reopening  after  1758,  148-153; 
English  attempt  to  regulate,  149  ff. ; 
abuses  in,  150;  government  trading 
posts,  150-152,  234  footnote',  regu- 
lated by  military  officials  through 
Indian  department,  148-153;  per- 
manent regulation  by  Indian  de- 
partment planned,  171-175,  reopen- 
ing after  1763,  177;  English  in- 
terest in  trade  of  Illinois  country 
after  1763,  189  ff. ;  effect  of  non- 
importation agreements  upon,  193, 
229 ;  Illinois  trade  proves  disap- 
pointing, 203-204;  ceases  to  receive 
major  attention  after  1766,  209; 
imperial  regulation  abandoned, 
225-230;  failure  of  colonies  to  reg- 
ulate, 228-230 

Indiana:  447  footnote,  320;  see  In- 
diana Co. 

Indiana  Co:  261,  288;  origin,  265; 
organization,  266 ;  members,  379 
footnote;  plans  to  secure  grant 
from  Indians,  267;  Indiana  grant 
secured  at  Fort  Stanwix,  268 ;  op- 
position of  Virginia,  268,  270;  royal 
confirmation  postponed,  269 ;  op- 
position of  claimants  of  1754,  270; 
merged  in  Grand  Ohio  Co.,  270  ff. ; 
hostile  factions  in,  389  footnote; 
resumes  independent  position,  bas- 
ing claim  on  Camden-Yorke  opin- 
ion, 298-301 ;  dissention  and  meet- 
ings in  1775,  299;  attempt  to  sell 
lands,  300;  petitions  Virginia  for 
recognition  of  claims,  309-312;  set- 
tlers oppose,  312;  petitions  conti- 
nental congress  for  recognition, 
312,  314,  315,  316;  favorable  con- 
sideration, 316-320;  sues  Virginia 
in  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  319-320 

Indian  Queen  Tavern:  265,  300 

Innes,  Col.  James:  107,  333 

Iroquois  (Six  Nations)  :  27,  30,  70, 
I33»  *37>  1S6>  J88,  243;  becoming 
pro-French,  84;  importance  in  In- 


|  dian  department,  117;  English  al- 
lies in  1756,  123;  hostility  to  south- 
ern Indians,  129;  treaty  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  222-224,  257;  private  land 
grant  to  Croghan,  257-258;  make 
grant  of  Indiana  for  "Suff'ring 
Traders,"  266-269;  hostility  affects 
price  of  land  during  Revolution, 
287 
Iroquois,  on  the  Ohio  (Mingoes)  :  30, 
75,  144,  182,  186,  194,  221,  267, 
303-304;  come  to  Philadelphia  for 
a  conference,  61 ;  at  Lancaster  con- 
ference in  1748,  64-66;  at  Logs- 
town  conference,  66 ;  make  land 
sales  to  Croghan,  296-297 

Johnson,  Guy:  222,  384  footnote,  324; 
appointed  Deputy  Superintendent, 
121-122;  successor  to  Sir  William 
Johnson,  232 

Johnson  Hall:  118,  124,  136,  189,  191, 
198,  207,  263 

Johnson,  John:  232,  324 

Johnson,  Sir  William:  24,  48,  122, 
123,  125,  136,  335;  sends  news  of 
coming  of  French  to  the  Ohio  in 
1750,  71,  78,  79,  ioi,  106,  109;  ap- 
pointed Colonel  of  Six  Nations  and 
Superintendent  of  Indians  in  the 
Northern  District,  117-118;  sketch 
of  life,  118-119;  expenses  as  Su- 
perintendent, 120;  his  deputy  su- 
perintendents, 121 ;  participation  in 
campaigns  in  1756,  123-124;  un- 
friendly to  Quakers,  128 ;  visits  De- 
troit, 155-156;  at  Easton  confer- 
ence, 157;  opposes  Amherst's  In- 
dian policy,  158-163;  basis  of  his 
Indian  policy,  162-163;  plans  for 
permanent  Indian  department,  166- 
167,  174,  187,  189,  191;  puts  Board 
of  trade  plan  into  effect,  192-193; 
regrets  lessened  powers  of  Indian 
department  and  new  zeal  for  econ- 
omy, 201,  206 ;  persuades  Croghan 
not   to    resign,    207;    fears    Indian 


364       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


War  in  1767,  219 ;  negotiates  new 
boundary  line  at  Fort  Stanwix, 
221-223;  attitude  toward  abandon- 
ment of  imperial  regulation  of  In- 
dian trade,  227-230;  salary  raised, 
230;  death,  232;  effect  of  death 
on  price  of  frontier  lands,  286 ;  in- 
terested in  western  land  specula- 
tion, 234;  lands  owned  in  New 
York,  244 ;  assists  land  specula- 
tors, 249 ;  relations  with  Croghan 
in  1769,  253;  relation  to  treaty  of 
Fort  Stanwix,  258 ;  becomes  inter- 
ested in  Illinois  Co.,  263-264; 
secretly  assists  Indiana  Co.,  266- 
269;  relation  to  Grand  Ohio  Co., 
271,  272,  392  footnote,  275,  297 

Joncaire,  Philippe  Thomas  de:  mis- 
sion to  Ohio  Indians  in  1750,  71- 
73;   in   1751,   74-76 

Jonquiere,  Gov.  Marquis  de  la:  35, 
78 

Jumonville,  Ensign  Villiers  de:  105 

Kaskaskia:  175,  191,  197,  228;  Eng- 
lish colony  proposed  around,  234 

Kaskaskia   Indians:   197 

Kenny,  James:  151 

Kentucky:  46;  early  visits  by  Crog- 
han's  employees  to,  37 

Kickapoo:  22,  184-185,  187,  188,  197 

King  George's  War:  22,  42,  56,  59 

Kittanning:  captured,   104 

Lake   Superior:    mining    companies, 

234 

Lancaster:  26,  31;  Indian  conference 
in  1748,  64-66;  Indian  conference 
in  1757,  132-134 

Land  purchases  from  the  Indians: 
see  Indian 

Land  companies:  234,  261  ff. 

Land  speculation:  32-33,  211,  223, 
225,  241,  261  ff.,  295  ff.,  335-336; 
after  1763,  233  ff . ;  considered  legit- 
imate, 234-235 ;  in  New  York,  242- 
248 


Langlade,  Charles:  78-79 

Lawrence,  Thomas:  60,  61,  62,  291 

Le  Grand  Sauteur:  188 

Levy,  Levi  Andrew:  39,  in,  151, 
190,   265,   379  footnote 

Levy,  Franks  and  Simon:   31,   39 

Loftus,  Major  Arthur:  176 

Logan,  James:  61,  62 

Logan,  Mingo  Chief:  303 

Logstown:  trading  house  established 
by  Croghan  at,  34;  Virginia  makes 
Indian  treaty  at,  44,  77;  Pennsyl- 
vania's treaty  with  Ohio  tribes  in 
1748  at,  66-69;  Pennsylvania's  mis- 
sion in  1 75 1  at,  74-76;  mission  from 
Pennsylvania,  in   1754,  83-84 

Lord  Dunmore's  War:  302-304 

Loudoun,  Earl:  124,  125,  131;  de- 
clines Croghan's  offer  to  recruit 
company  of  rangers,  no;  disre- 
gard of  Supt.  Atkin,  1 19-120;  sug- 
gests Croghan's  appointment,  123 

Louisville:  origin,    301 

Lower  Shawnee  Town:  78,  152; 
trading  center,    36 

Lowrey,  Alexander:  claim  purchased 
by  Indiana  Co.   agents,  269-270 

Lowrey  Brothers:  39 

McKee,  Alexander:  174,  177,  178, 
181,  207,  219,  220,  248;  in  French 
and  Indian  War,  102;  assistant 
Indian  deputy,  143;  appointed  com- 
missary at  Fort  Pitt,  192;  appoint- 
ed successor  to  Croghan,  231 ;  holds 
Indian  conferences  during  Lord 
Dunmore's  War,  303-304;  a  loy- 
alist during  Revolution,  324,  325 

McKee,  Thomas:  39,  143,  265 

Maryland:  declines  making  present 
to   Ohio   Indians,   63 

Mascoutens:  22,  184-185,  187,  188,  197 

Masters,  William:  133 

Mercer,  Col.  Hugh:  106,  141,  144,  147 

Miami  (Twightwee)  :  30,  75,  81,  144, 
187,  188,  197;  Croghan  trades  with, 
36 ;  important  village  of  Pickawil- 


INDEX 


365 


lani,  36,  72,  78-80;  conference  at 
Lancaster  in  1748  with,  64-66; 
Croghan's  mission  in  1750  to,  72- 
73;  turn  to  French,  83 

Michigamea:  197 

Military  establishment:  relation  to 
Indian  department,   115-121,   124 

Mingoes:  see  Iroquois,  on   the   Ohio 

Minnisinks:  138 

Mirepoix,  Due  de:  letters  to,  108-111 

Mitchell,  Abraham:  39,  40,  379  foot- 
note 

Mohicans:  221 

Monacatootha:   97 

Monckton  Hall:  241,  280,  328,  329, 
33o 

Monckton,  Gen.  Robert:  144,  266 

Monongalia  Co.,  Va:  308-309,  441 
footnote 

Montour,  Andrew:  56,  64,  66,  69,  71, 
73,  81,  83-84,  87,  95  ;  on  mission  to 
the  Ohio  in  1751,  74  ff . ;  assists  in 
capture  of  Fort  DuQuesne,  139-141 

Montour,  Lewis:   84 

Morgan,  George:  m,  191,  199,  203, 
384  footnote,  324,  325  ;  accompanies 
Croghan  to  Illinois,  195 ;  member 
of  Illinois  Co.,  263 ;  member  of  In- 
diana Co.,  379  footnote;  bitter  en- 
mity to  Samuel  Wharton,  389  foot- 
note, 300 

Morgan,  Dr.  John:  281,  291,  469 
footnote;  unscrupulous  business 
methods,  284 

Morris,  Gov.  Robt:  41,  89,  91,  92,  99, 
103-109,  128 

Morton,  John:  281,  287 

Munsies:  221 

Murray,   Gov.  James:   174 

Murray,  Capt.  William:  178,  185, 
187,   194 

Murray,  William:  190,  274;  makes 
purchase  for  Illinois  and  Wabash 
Land  Companies,  290 

Natchez:  English  propose  colony 
around,  234 


Neave,  Richard:  92  footnote,  191,  200 

Neilson,  Joseph:  39 

New  England:  interest  in  western 
lands,  234 

New  York:  Indian  trade  of,  19,  20, 
116;  relation  to  abandonment  of 
imperial  regulation  of  Indian 
trade,  228 ;  land  system,  242-244, 
249-251 ;  westward  movement 
hindered,  243 ;  land  speculation  in, 
248 ;  development  of  central  New 
York,  242-254 

Non-importation  agreements:  193, 
229 

Norris,  Isaac:  81,  132,  133 

Northumberland  Co.,  Pa:  organized, 
224 

Ohio  Co.  (of  Va.) :  40,  43,  59,  74, 
210,  211,  308-309,  441  footnote;  in- 
terested in  Indian  trade,  68;  trail 
blazed  to  the  Ohio  for,  77 ;  favored 
in  Logstown  treaty  in  1752,  77;  be- 
gins fort  on  Ohio,  82-83 ;  recog- 
nized by  the  Grand  Ohio  Co.,  272; 
presents  claims  before  Virginia 
legislature,   310 

Oneida  Carrying  Place:  123 

Onondago:  conferences  at,   123 

Orme,  Capt.  Robert:  98 

Oswegle  Bottom:  trading  house  es- 
tablished by  Croghan  at,  34 

Oswego:  123 

Otego  patent:  248,  401  footnote 

Otsego  Hall:  331 

Otsego  patent:  249-254;  Croghan's 
investment  in,  279;  mortgaged, 
282;  Croghan  sells  part  of,  283; 
286,  287 ;  sale  of  remainder,  329 ; 
dispute  over  title,  330 

Ottawas:  35,  144,  154,  187,  188;  plot 
against  French,  36 

Ourry,   Lieut.   Lewis:    165 

Owen,  John:  39 

Packhorses:  use  of,  by  traders,  29; 
Croghan  supplies  his  to  Braddock, 
91 ;   stolen  by  Indians,   146 


366       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


Paine,  Thomas:  motives  in  writing 
Public  Good,  317;  member  of  In- 
diana Co.,  317 

Palmer,  Pres.  Anthony:  62 

Passy  Memorial:  316-317 

Patten,  John:  83-85 

Pemberton,  James:  128,  133 

Penn,  Gov.  Thomas:  180,  182,  217, 
21 8,  221,  222,  225,  247,  304 

Penns,  proprietors  of  Pennsylvania: 
127,  138,  158,  169,  266;  relation  to 
Indian  affairs  in  Pennsylvania,  55 ; 
support  aggressive  Indian  policy 
in  far  West,  61 ;  advocate  building 
fort  on  the  Ohio,  75-76;  sale  of 
lands  in  southwestern  Pennsyl- 
vania, 223 ;  excellent  land  system, 
236-241 ;  method  of  sale  of  lands 
opened  in  1768,  240;  boundary  dis- 
pute with  Virginia,   304-309 

Pennsylvania:  Indian  trade,  19,  20, 
27;  rapid  westward  movement  of 
Indian  traders,  21 ;  settler's  fron- 
tier, 26-27,  239;  trader's  threatened 
with  competition  from  Virginia,  40, 
44,  68,  116;  management  of  Indian 
affairs  before  1750,  55  ff. ;  becomes 
officially  interested  in  Indians  in 
Ohio  region,  56 ;  makes  presents  to 
them,  60  ff. ;  conference  with  Mi- 
ami at  Lancaster  in  1748,  64-66 ; 
with  Ohio  Indians  at  Logstown  in 
1748,  66-68;  large  trade  on  the 
Ohio,  67;  sends  Croghan  to  Ohio 
in  1749,  69 ;  Croghan  and  Mon- 
tour's mission  in  1750,  71-73 ;  atti- 
tude toward  Wabash  Indians  in 
1750,  72-74;  neglects  to  erect  fort 
on  the  Ohio,  75-77,  306 ;  ceases  to 
lead  English  aggression  in  West 
after  1751,  77;  provides  presents 
for  Ohio  tribes  in  1753,  81-82;  con- 
ference at  Logstown  with  Indians 
in  1754,  83-84;  pays  for  road  to 
the  Ohio,  94;  frontier  attacked  in 
1755,  100  ff. ;  new  frontier  policy 
after  1755,  102;  dislikes  organiza- 


tion of  imperial  Indian  department, 
125 ;  supplies  funds  for  Indian  de- 
partment, 126;  effect  of  party  strife 
on  Indian  affairs,  126-128,  158; 
law  to  regulate  Indian  trade,  127; 
clashes  with  Indian  department, 
I33-I35>  *$%>  158;  establishes  In- 
dian trading  posts,  150-152;  In- 
dian conference  at  Lancaster  in 
1762,  158;  interest  in  western  In- 
dian trade  after  1763,  189  ff.;  tries 
to  prevent  settlement  on  Indian's 
land,  218-220;  appropriation  to 
quiet  Indians,  219-221;  rapid  set- 
tlement of  southwest  and  organ- 
ization of  new  counties,  210,  223- 
224;  relation  to  abandonment  of 
imperial  regulation  of  Indian 
trade,  227-230;  interest  in  western 
lands,  234;  favors  new  colonies  in 
west,  235";  excellent  land  system, 
236-241 ;  act  against  tories,  326- 
327 ;  boundary  controversy  with 
Virginia,  see  Virginia 

Pentecost,  Dorsey:  307,  325,  334; 
surveyor  for  Croghan,  289 

Peoria  Indians:  197 

Peters,  Richard:  40,  49,  52,  59-61, 
64,  65,  70,  81,  91,  96,  101,  109,  132, 
133,  221,  236,  239,  281,  282 

Peters,  William:  236,  281,  287 

Philadelphia:  basis  of  its  interest  in 
West,  22;  importance  of  groups 
concerned  in  western  business,  31- 
32 ;  becomes  interested  in  far  West, 
59;  relation  to  Indian  trade  in  Il- 
linois country  after  1763,  189  ff.; 
interest  in  western  lands,  234 

Piankashaw:  186-188,  197;  becoming 
pro-English,  22;  treaty  with  Eng- 
lish, 73-74;   with  Virginia,  78 

Pickawillani:  46,  186;  important 
trading  center,  36;  French  and 
English  meet  Indians  in  1750  at, 
72-74;  destroyed  by  French,  78-80 

Pierce,  Paul:  21,  39 

Pine   Creek:  215;   trading  house   es- 


INDEX 


367 


stablished  by  Croghan  at,  33  ;  In- 
dian council  held  in  1753  at,  80 

Pittsburg:  228,  238;  early  religious 
conditions,  24,  214,  215 ;  early  eco- 
nomic life,  213-215;  colony  pro- 
posed around,  234;  sale  of  sur- 
rounding land  by  the  Penns,  240- 
241,  259;  to  be  capital  of  Vandalia, 
275 ;  Indian  conference  for  Van- 
dalia held  at,  275-276;  rapid  set- 
tlement before  1775  around,  290, 
296,  297;  Indiana  Co.  meets  at, 
299;  opens  land  office  in,  300;  dis- 
pute between  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia  over,  304  ff. ;  Virginia 
court  held  at,  307-309 ;  economic 
and  social  conditions  in  1775,  307- 
309;  revolutionary  fervor  in  1775, 
325-327;  see  Fort  Pitt 

Plain   Facts:   316-317 

Plumsted,  Mary:  239 

Plumsted,  William:   190,  291 

Pontiac:  154,  239  footnote,  157,  176, 
183,  188,  334;  his  uprising,  164; 
siege  of  Fort  Pitt,  164-166;  attacks 
on  Bedford,  240;  influence  upon 
Indian  department,  170-171;  plans 
frustrated,  175 ;  retires  to  Illinois, 
175 ;  meets  English  in  conference, 
187-188;  character,  187;  makes 
treaty  with  English  in  1766,  192; 
murder  of,  198;  uprising  effects  In- 
dian traders,  265 ;  their  attempt  to 
secure  restitution,  265-266 

Potawatomi:  144,  154,  156,  188 

Post,  Christian  Frederick:  m;  first 
mission  to  Ohio  tribes  in  1758,  137; 
second  mission,  139-141 

Powell,  William:  327,  333 

Pownall,  John:  109,  169 

Pownall,  Thomas:  169 

Prevost,  Lieut.  Augustine:  26,  248, 
249 ;  settles  on  Lake  Otsego,  254, 
412  footnote',  in  Revolution,  324; 
attempts  to  save  lands  inherited 
from  Croghan,  330-332 

Prisoners   among  Indians:  145  ff. 


Proclamation  Line  of  1763:  257,  301; 
origin,  171-172;  exceptions  to  it, 
212;  violated,  209  ff.,  216;  regard- 
ed as  only  temporary,  233,  249, 
257,   301 

Proclamation  of  1763:  170-172;  see 
Proclamation  Line  of  1763 

Public  Good,  etc:  316-317 

Quakers:  reject  Croghan's  treaty 
with  Wabash  tribes  in  1750,  73-74; 
refuse  to  erect  fort  on  the  Ohio  in 
I75I»  75"77»  85;  curtail  Indian  ex- 
penditures, 85 ;  pacifism  and  In- 
dian attacks  in  1755,  100  ff. ;  lose 
control  of  Pennsylvania,  102 ;  re- 
lation to  imperial  Indian  depart- 
ment, 126-129,  132,  133-135,  138, 
151,  158 

Quebec:  35 

Reade,  Charles:  248 
Reed,  Col.  John:  197,  201,  220 
Roads:  68;  west  from  Philadelphia, 
26 ;   two   roads   planned   by  Brad- 
dock  to  Fort  DuQuesne,  91-93,  97; 
to   Fort  Pitt,   143,   146 ;    settlement 
along  roads  to  Fort  Pitt,  212-214 
Rogers,  Robert:  154-155,  206 
Ross,  Alexander:  190,  291,  311,  324 
Ross,  George:  attorney  for  Croghan, 
65  footnote;  chairman  of  Illinois- 
Wabash  Land  Companies,  427  foot- 
note 
Rumsey,  James:  190 
Russian  fur  trade:  17 

Sacs:  197 

St.  Ange:  176,  184,  186,  187 

St.  Clair,  Arthur:  western  represen- 
tative of  the  Penns  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, 303-306 

St.  Clair,  Sir  John:  92-94 

St.  Peter's  Church:  24,  332 

Sandusky  Bay:  155,  156;  important 
trading  center  for  English,  35;  see 
Fort  Sandusky 


368       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


Scalp  bounties:  116;  offered  by  Penn- 
sylvania,   102 

Scarroyaddy:  97,  254 

Scotch-Irish:  26 

Sharpe,  Gov.  Horatio:  88,  107 

Shawnee:  30,  64,  66,  75,  76,  78,  84, 
123,  129,  137,  144,  156,  175,  182, 
185,  186,  194,  195,  220,  224,  267; 
in  Lord   Dunmore's  War,    302-304 

Shelburne,  Lord:  170,  196,  202,  206, 
207,  21 8,  264 

Shikelemy:  63 

Shippen,  Joseph:  220 

Shippen  and  Lawrence:  31,  40,  60, 
328 

Shippensburg:  32,  101,  238 

Simms,  Col.  Charles:  311 

Simon,  Joseph:  39,  151,  181,  190,  265, 
379  footnote,  267,  276,  288,  291 

Sinclair,  Sir  John:  141 

Six  Nations:  see  Iroquois 

Smallman,  Thomas:  24,  25,  53,  102, 
152,  182,  192,  379  footnote,  307,  325 

Smith,  Capt.  James:  179-180 

Smith,  Richard:  254 

Smith,  Provost  William:  272  footnote, 
236;  lays  out  city  of  Huntingdon, 

239 

South  Carolina:  Indian  trade,  19,  20 

Stamp  Act:  183;  effect  of  repeal  on 
Indian  department,  205 ;  relation 
to  imperial  land  policy,  295 

Standing  Stone  at  Huntingdon:  239 

Stanwix,  Col.  John:  126,  130,  132, 
144,   150 

Stobo,  Capt.  Robert:  letters  of,  107 

Stuart,  John:  174,  176,  264  footnote, 
199,  244,  272;  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs,  118 

Stump,  Frederick:  217,  219 

"Suff'ring  Traders":  losses  incurred 
during  Pontiac's  uprising,  265 ;  at- 
tempt to  secure  restitution,  265-266; 
see  Indiana  Co. 

Sullivan's  expedition  against  the  Iro- 
quois: 252,  364  footnote 

Susannah:   see   Croghan,  Susannah 


Swaine,  Charles:  98,  101 

Teaffe,  Michael:  39,  42,  46,  81 

Teedyuscung:  132-136,  138,  158 

Thomas,  Gov.  George:  60 

Thompson,  William:  334;  surveyor 
for  Croghan,  289 

Thomson,  Charles:  133-135 

Transylvania  Co:  310,  311 

Treaty  of  Easton  in  1758:  137-140, 
210 

Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix:  221-225,  250, 
257,  289;  Indiana  grant  made  to 
"Suff'ring  Traders,"  268-269; 
Shawnee  discontented  with,  302 

Trent,  William:  25,  39,  41,  46,  49,  56, 
68,  81,  85,  134,  151,  181,  190,  238, 
248,  283,  296,  297,  313,  327;  agent 
to  secure  restitution  for  trader's 
losses  51-52;  mission  to  Pickawil- 
lani  in  1752,  78 ;  sent  to  Ohio  tribes 
by  Virginia  in  1753,  79;  reports 
confusion  on  the  Ohio  in  1753,  80; 
in  charge  of  erecting  fort  on  the 
Ohio,  82-83  I  surrenders  to  French, 
83;  defends  surrender,  137  foot- 
note', assists  in  defense  of  Penn- 
sylvania frontier,  101,  102;  at 
treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  222 ;  rela- 
tion to  Indiana  Co.,  265-271 ;  in- 
curs enmity  of  Morgan,  389  foot- 
note', member  and  agent  of  Grand 
Ohio  Co.,  270-272,  275,  286 ;  returns 
to  America  in  1775,  298;  leader  of 
Indiana  Co.,  299-301 ;  presents  its 
claims  before  Virginia  legislature, 
310,   313,   327 

Trent,  Simon,  Franks  and  Levy  Co: 
151,  181,  190,  265,  267 

Tunaderry   patent:   252 

Twightwee:  see  Miami 

Vandalia:  231,  271,  302;  keen  inter- 
est in,  273  ;  opposition  of  Virginia, 
273 ;  establishment  assured,  273- 
275,  277,  279 ;  Indian  conference  at 
Pittsburg,    275-276 ;     establishment 


INDEX 


369 


doubtful,    285-286,    294,    295,    301 ; 
claims    considered    by    continental 
congress,    312,    314,     316-321;    see 
Grand  Ohio   Co. 
Vaudreuil:  6  footnote,  21,  73,  153 
Venango:  Croghan  trades  at,  34,  46, 
77;  French  advance  on,  80-81;  fort 
established,  82 ;  see  Fort  Venango 
Villiers,  Coulon  de:  plans  attack  on 

Fort  Shirley,  105 
Vincennes:  20,  157,  175,  186 
Virginia:  traders  not  active  in  Ohio 
region  before  1754,  39;  threaten  to 
compete  with  Pennsylvania  trad- 
ers, 40,  44,  68,  77,  116;  treaty  with 
Indians  at  Logstown,  44,  77;  joins 
Pennsylvania  in  making  presents  to 
Ohio  tribes,  63 ;  sends  presents  to 
Ohio  tribes  in  1753,  79;  conference 
with  Indians  at  Winchester,  81 ; 
boundary  dispute  with  Pennsyl- 
vania, 68,  76,  77,  85,  216,  304-309, 
312-314;  rapid  westward  move- 
ment after  1765  and  organization 
of  new  counties,  223-224;  interest- 
ed in  western  lands,  234;  favors 
no  new  colonies  in  West,  235 ;  op- 
position to  Indiana  Co.,  268,  270; 
tries  to  placate  Grand  Ohio  Co., 
272 ;  opposition  to  Vandalia  pro- 
ject, 273,  286;  settlements  on  In- 
dian lands,  275  ;  refusal  to  recog- 
nize Camden-Yorke  opinion,  301, 
309 ;  assumes  aggressive  in  West 
after  1773,  301  ff. ;  denies  recogni- 
tion to  the  land  claims  of  the  In- 
diana Co.,  of  Vandalia  and  of 
Croghan,  309-312;  opposes  recogni- 
tion thereof  by  congress,  315  ff.; 
relation  of  claims  to  Virginia's 
land  cession,  315-320;  sued  by  In- 
diana Co.,   319-320 

Wabash  Land  Co:  427  footnote,  301, 

311;  see  Illinois- Wabash  Co. 
Wabash-Maumee  route:  20-22 
Walker,  Thomas:  297 


Ward,  Edward:  25,  82-83,  102,  143, 
168,  291,  293,  301,  307,   325 

Warder,  Jeremiah:  40,  133,  239,  265 

Walpole  Co:  271 

Washington,  George:  51,  77,  137 
footnote,  in,  120,  129,  139,  223, 
252,  286,  289,  302,  311,  335;  im- 
presses Croghan's  horses  in  1754, 
46,  87;  mission  to  Fort  Le  Boeuf, 
82,  83 ;  frontier  defense  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1753,  82;  assisted  on  fron- 
tier by  Croghan,  Trent  and  Gist, 
85-88;  at  Braddock's  defeat,  98; 
supplied  with  Indian  messengers 
by  Croghan,  104;  suspicioned  as 
traitor,  109 ;  dines  at  Croghan 
Hall,  215;  attitude  towards  proc- 
lamation of  1763,  233 ;  interested 
in  land  speculation,  234,  335 ;  op- 
position to  Vandalia  project,  273 ; 
considers  Vandalia  established, 
274;  effect  of  its  failure,  286;  at- 
tempts to  patent  lands  near  Pitts- 
burg, 289  ff. ;  clashes  with  Croghan, 
290  ff.;  considers  purchasing  land 
from  Croghan,  291  ff. ;  tour  to  the 
Ohio,  292 ;  dines  at  Croghan  Hall, 
292 ;  utilizes  squatter  rights,  293 ; 
land  titles  dependent  on  fate  of 
Vandalia,  294 

We  a:  188,  197;  treaty  with  English 
in  1751,  73-74 

Webb,  Col.  Daniel:  109-111,  123 

Weiser,  Conrad:  42,  70,  74,  76,  105, 
107,  in,  132,  133,  135;  visit  to 
Croghan  at  Aughwick,  49 ;  Indian 
agent  for  Pennsylvania,  56 ;  esti- 
mate of  Croghan's  character,  61 ; 
supervises  making  presents  to  Ohio 
Indians,  62  ff. ;  at  Lancaster  con- 
ference, 64-66 ;  mission  to  Ohio  In- 
dians in  1748,  66-68;  inspects 
Croghan's  work  at  Aughwick,  89- 
90 

West:  English  policy  towards,  156- 
157;  after  1763,  170-175;  policy 
changed  after  1766,  202-203  ;  desire 


370       CROGHAN  AND  THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 


to  settle  Ohio  lands  after  1758, 
209  ff. ;  impossibility  to  check  set- 
tlement, 210-214;  Indian  resent- 
ment at  settlers  in,  216  ff.;  new 
purchases  provided  for,  221-223 ; 
phenomenal  westward  movement 
after  1768,  210,  223-224;  new  im- 
perial policy  towards,  1768,  225  ff . ; 
English  abandon  interior  forts  and 
the  regulation  of  Indian  trade, 
225  ff.;  land  speculation  in,  2335., 
261  ff. ;  English  consider  establish- 
ing inland  colonies,  261 ;  new  im- 
perial land  policy  of  1773,  295 ; 
Virginia's  aggression  in  1773, 
301  ff. ;  conflict  over  in  continental 
congress  in  relation  to  land  spec- 
ulation, 314  ff. 
Westmoreland    Co.,    Pa:    organized, 

224,  307 
Westsylvania:   313 
Wharton,  Charles:  271,  281 
Wharton,     Joseph:    248,     281,     293; 

member    of    Illinois    Co.,    263 ;    of 

Grand    Ohio   Co.,   271 ;    purchases 

Crogharis  Forest,  329 


Wharton,  Samuel:  203,221,236,248, 
261,  283,  296,  299;  at  treaty  of 
Fort  Stanwix,  222 ;  member  of  Il- 
linois Co.,  263 ;  member  and  agent 
of  Indiana  Co.,  265-271 ;  incurs  bit- 
ter enmity  of  Baynton  and  Mor- 
gan, 389  footnote;  organizer  and 
agent  of  Grand  Ohio  Co.,  270-276, 
286;  plans  private  Indian  purchase 
on  the  Ohio  in  1774,  297-298; 
writes  Plain  Facts,  316-317 

Wharton,  Thomas:  133,  248,  280,  281, 
283,  287,  298;  member  of  Grand 
Ohio  Co.,  271 

Will's  Creek:  91 

Winchester:  Indian  conference  at,  77, 
81 

Wyandots  (or  Hurons)  :  30,  75,  144, 
154,  156,  188,  194,  221 ;  conspiracy 
against  French,  56,  59-61 ;  at  Logs- 
town  conference  in  1748,  66 

Yohogania    Co.,    Va:    308-309,    441 

footnote 
Young,  James:   39 


